GIFT O

THE

MASONIC LADDER:

OB THE

to J^n ctent .offw emasanrj,

SEIKO

A PRACTICAL EXHIBIT, IN PROSE AND VERSE,

OP THE

MORAL PRECEPTS, TRADITIONS,

Scriptural Instructions anb ^llrgorus

OF THE DEGREES OP

ENTERED APPRENTICE, FELLOW CRAPT, MASTER MASON,

MARK MASTER, PAST MASTER, MOST EXCELLENT MASTER, ROYAL ARCH
MASON, ROYAL MASTER AND SELECT MASTKR,

BY JOHN SHERER,

Compiler of the "Masonic Carpets of Blue Lodge, Chapter and Council
Masonry," and other Masonic Publications.

CINCINNATI:
R. W. CARROLL & CO., PUBLISHERS,

1876.

TO

(£mt

*(A MULTITUDE, WHICH NO MAN CAN NUMBER, OP ALL NATIONS
AND KINDREDS AND PEOPLE AND TONGUES)"

WORSHIPING A COMMON DEITY; JOINING HANDS AROUND A COMMON ALTABJ

ENGAGED UPON LIKE DEEDS OP BENEFICENCE ON EARTH,

AND CASTING HOPE'S STRONG ANCHOR UPON

THE SAME HEAVENLY SHORE J

flu

ILLUSTRATING THE THREE GREAT SYSTEMS OP SYMBOLICAL,
CAPITULAR AND CRYPTIC MASONRY,

IS MOST RESPECTFULLY AND FRATERNALLY

288122

IN presenting a new volume to the Masonic Fra-
ternity, and soliciting their patronage for it, it is
incumbent on the compiler to show wJierein it differs
from, and claims superiority over, other publica-
tions already in the market.

The great number of Masons do not sufficiently
discriminate between the doctrines, covenants and
aims of the different degrees. The Three, Seven, or
Nine Degrees, conferred in the various Masonic
bodies, are apt to be jumbled up in the minds of
their recipients, as though they were only so many
sections of tlie same Degree. The more striking
parts of the ceremony are remembered, while the
instructions, which give the rational explanations
of the emblems, are forgotten. Something, then, is
needed which the brother can take home with him
and read, to refresh his mind upon what is, in
reality, the only practical part of the Masonic in-
stitution. For this part the "Monitor" is used, and

fi PEEFACE.

so far as it goes it supplies that want. But the
"Monitor" is not sufficiently diffuse. There is not
sufficient latitude given to the historical branch
of the subject; nor in the moral application of
Masonry is the "Monitor" precise and distinct.
Something more has been wanted by generations of
Masons, and it is strange that none of the Masonic
authors have attempted to supply that want.

" The Masonic Ladder" has been prepared with
reference to this very want. It is so arranged that
the brother may, by its perusal, recall the more
striking parts of the Degrees he has taken; may
judge of the extent of his covenants; may under-
stand what bearings the history and geography of
the Holy Land have upon the traditions that have
been communicated to him; and may trace out to
its full extent the excellent morality taught in each
Degree. At the same time that "The Masonic
Ladder" assists the brother to remount the steps
he has taken, and enjoy over again the pleasant
thoughts experienced when he first took them, they
communicate no secrets to an outsider. Like the
Bible itself, which is full of Masonic secrets to the

PREFACE. vii

initiated, "The Masonic Ladder" can not open the
way to the arcana of the Order save to those who
have once penetrated to them.

The compiler has had able assistance in the prep*
aration of this volume, and all the matter contained
in it, whether original or selected, has been re-written
and adapted to the plan upon which the look was
prepared.

The compiler is so well known as the author and
publisher of Sherer* s "Masonic Carpets" and "Ma-
sonic Degree-Books" that he will be indulged in
saying that "The Masonic Ladder" is prepared in
strict accordance with those well-known and popu-
lar productions. The form of the Emblems, and
the order of their arrangement, were guides in com-
bining "The Masonic Ladder" so that the two may
go together. Every Lodge that has heretofore pur-
chased a Carpet, or may hereafter supply itself with
a Degree-Book, can now have a volume explana-
tory of it. This is a desideratum long sought for
by the Lodges.

THE FIRST ORDER IN FREEMASONRY.

THE SYMBOLICAL DEGREES:

COXSISTIXO or

THE ENTERED APPRENTICE,
THE FELLOW CRAFT,

AND

THE MASTER MASON.

THESE three Degrees are conferred, according to the
system adopted throughout the Masonic world, in Lodges
of Symbolical Masonry. The ballot is taken in the Third
or Master Mason's Degree, absolute unanimity being es-
sential to an election. All discipline for vice, immoral-
ity, improprieties, and the violation of Masonic laws,
originates in this Order of Masonry.

ASK, and ye shall receive ;

SEEK, ye shall surely find;
KNOCK, ye shall no resistance meet.

If come with ready mind;
For all that ASK, and ask aright,
Are welcome to our Lodge to-night

Lay down the bow and spear;

Resign the sword and shield:
Forget the arts of warfare here,

The 'arms of peace to wield ;
For all that SEEK, and seek aright,
Are welcome to our Lodge to-night

Bring hither thoughts of peace;

Bring hither words of love:
Diffuse the pure and holy joy,

That corneth from above;
For all that KNOCK, and knock aright,
Are welcome to our Lodge to-night

ASK help of Him that 's high ;

SEEK grace of Him that 's true :
KNOCK patiently, the hand is nigh,

Will open unto you;
For all that ASK, SEEK, KNOCK aright,
Are welcome to our Lodge to-night

THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

WHERE two or three assemble round

In work the Lord approves,
His spirit with the group is found

For 't is the place lie loves :
Be now all hearts to friendship given,
For we, the Sons of Light, are seven. .

Bring here the Gavel and the Gauge,

Those implements renowned;
And from each conscience disengage

The faults that there abound:
Be now afar each folly driven,
For we, the Sons of Light, are seven.

Display the Law, the volume grase
With Compass and with Square;

Illume the tapers in their place,
And all for work prepare:

We'll please our Master well this even,

For we, the Sons of Light, are seven.

Spread o'er us yon rich Canopy,

Set up the Ladder high,
That angel-visitants may see

And from their stations fly :
Where Faith, Hope, Charity have striven,
And we, the Sons of Light, are seven.

THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

THE FIRST SECTION.

THE THEORY OF THE DEGREE OF ENTERED
APPRENTICE.

THE Degree of Entered Apprentice is the initial letter
of the Masonic alphabet, the first round in the ladder
of grades, variously numbering three, seven, nine, eleven,
twenty-nine, one hundred and twenty-five, or whatever
figures the fancy of modern ritualists may assume to
embrace all the Degrees of Freemasonry. An Entered
Apprentice is a beginner, a neophyte. All that is ex-
plained to him in the First Degree must be in the sense
of laying down a foundation; for he can have no pre-
vious information or instruction upon which to base it.

Yet the Entered Apprentice, in theory, is already a
Mason, even before he enters the Lodge;, that is, he
must be already prepared in heart, for there is nothing
in Masonic science that can do the work of heart-prepa-
ration. And the neophyte must have had some exoteric
knowledge of Masonry as a public institution, because he
is required to declare that "he has long entertained a
favorable opinion of it."

She theory which makes the character of the Entered

(13)

14 THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

Apprentice that of "a hewer of wood and drawer of
water" does not militate against the fact that to his
more advanced brethren he is "not now as a servant,
but above a servant, a brother beloved."

ASK AND RECEIVE. — The manner of application at the
door of God's favor, symbolized in the Closed Door, is
described in various passages. God said to Solomon:
" Ask what I shall give thee." Elsewhere it is recorded:
"Ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk
therein." "Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy
may be full." "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek,
and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto
you." "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God
that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and
it shall be given him."

In close connection with the symbolism of the Closed
Door is that of tho Three Knocks, peculiar to the Ma-
sonic Ritual. A splendid genius, now deceased, extend-
ing the Masonic theory beyond the vale of time, figures
the Grand Master of the Universe standing in the Celes-
tial Orient upon "the appointed day," and giving the
Three Knocks which shall summon the sheeted dead.
At the first knock, the ground of their interment begins
to heave with expectation. All nature is hushed. Earth
and heaven await with trembling the consummation. At
the second knock, bone comes to his fellow, flesh re-
clothes them ; blood moves once more through the veins,
and the dead are ready for the last summons. It falls,
and at once the armies of the dead arise, stand erect,
facing the East, and listen to the words of their Maker !

RIGHT ANGLES, HORIZONTALS, AND PERPENDICULARS.
Every thing in Masonic Science admits of a rational

THE DAGGER. 16

wcplanation. In truth, Freemasonry is the perfection of
reason. All its instructions conform to mathematical
ideas, and the simplest drawings of right angles, horizon-
tals, and perpendiculars form emblems of greater signifi-
cance upon its trestle-board. As the architect would
say that " all the parts of his edifice are tested by those
three emblems, the square, the level, and the plumb, be-
cause they are the instruments by which the right angle,
the horizontal, and the perpendicular are made upon his
drawing," so in Freemasonry, which is but another
name for moral architecture, all methods of communi-
cation known to the ancient Craft are to be subjected
to the same tests, and such as fail are spurious. Thus
these simple emblems, the first upon the trestle-booard,
become among the most important. When two per-
sons meet, who are able to recount similar necessities,
trials, and successes, what mutual disclosures take place !
What trustful communications, what tender sympathy is
manifested! Then one soul gushes out and flows over
into the other, and time steals rapidly on. Such is
the nature of Masonic intercourse between sympathetic
hearts.

THE DAGGER. — In the Master Mason's lecture, the em-
blem of "The Sword pointing to the naked Heart" ex-
presses the judgment reserved to the last day for those
who presumptuously sin against God and their fellow-
men. The same idea is conveyed, but in a more re-
stricted form, by the emblem of the Dagger. It reminds
us that there is an inward monitor, the conscience, which
will not be silent when the heart has resolved upon sin.
A person entering the Masonic institution with a view
to betray its secrets and violate its covenants need not

16 THE ENTERED

think that our Order has no avenger. The voice of God
within him is our avenger, and the eternal justice of
Him who has wisely permitted the existence of this So-
ciety for countless ages speaks even now through that
voice to his heart, and will speak in thunder-tones to his
guilty soul on the Judgment-day. It needs not that
any penalty be inflicted by the Craft upon the betrayer
of secrets save the necessary discipline of expulsion.
We can leave the guilty in the hands of God, who is the
avenger of his own laws.

Nor can the utmost treachery of evil men divulge what
it is our interest as a society to preserve. Our secrets
are lawful and honorable. They were intrusted in peace
and honor to the Masons of ancient times, and they will
be so transmitted to the ages to come.

THE APRON. — There are two prominent ideas con-
nected with the Masonic use of the Apron : that of pro-
tecting the garments from the defilement of the materials
with which the practical builders wrought, and that of
the distinguishing mark or badge of the Craft. The first
notice in Scripture of an Apron, is where our first par-
ents, having their eyes opened, and seeing themselves
naked, sewed together fig-leaves and made themselves
aprons. But this was not worn for a purpose analogous
to ours. The Masonic Apron is exhibited as a continual
memento, both to himself and those around him, that he
is under peculiar engagements to keep his conscience
void of offense, both to God and man.

But the idea, fully reviewed, becomes still more tender
and affecting. The Masonic Apron is not made of mate-
rial of an ordinary sort, such as is used for garments of
warmth, decency, or protection. It is made of lamb-

THE TWENTY-FOUR-INCH GAUGE. 17

skin, and that only, and it thus incorporates into its real
ordinary meaning all that pertains to that Divine emblem
of innocence. This makes up one of the finest allegories
in Freemasonry, and those members of the Fraternity
who are Christians see in their Apron every thing
taught in the Altar, the Thorny Crown, and the Cross.

THE TWENTY-FOUR INCH GAUGE. — The proper division
of our time involves every thing useful in our life. Our
. time is our life; they expire together. He who wastes
the one, wastes the other. Nothing but a systematic
distribution of time can accomplish the purposes for
which we were placed in this world. A portion for God,
a portion for needful avocations, a portion for refresh-
ment and sleep — this is the division that Freemasonry
enjoins. It were well for every member of the Craft to
resolve, in his moments of prayerful reflection, that he
will improve, in the best manner possible, all his leisure
noments in growing in morality, and to be daily increas-
ing his moral stature in conformity with the lessons in-
culcated upon the Masonic trestle-board.

THE COMMON GAVEL. — The necessity of a great and
radical removing of those evil things that incrust and
encumber the conscience is as great as that of breaking
off the outside crust and envelopments from the marble
before a perfect statue can be formed. The emblem
that suggests this necessity is the Gospel. How greatly
the beauty of the immortal soul is disfigured, its useful-
ness impaired, its happiness destroyed, and the God who
made it, dishonored, for want of the proper use of this
simple instrument for cleansing, trimming, and lightening
the soil!

THE THREE GREAT LIGHTS. — The combination of the
2

18 THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

three objects, the Holy Bible, the Square, and the Com-
pass, under this denomination, is not incongruous when
the character of the instructions they convey to the
Masonic mind is considered. The first guides our faith,
the second our works, the third our passions. Belief,
labor, spirit — these are the three ideas conjoined in
this beautiful trio. It is not the reverence we bear to
them as tangible objects that is considered here. The
Mason reveres the Bibh; he does not revere any other
tangible object. But these three objects are conjoined
here simply as emblems, or moral instructors, teaching
great inward lessons by outward forms.

THE THREE LESSER LIGHTS. — Pursuing the imagery
employed in the last paragraph, we make the three lesser
lights, or mediums through which instruction is conveyed
to the Craft, to be the Sun, Moon, and Master of the
Lodge. The government of the Master is analogous to
that exercised over the day by the Sun, over the night
by the Moon — a thought which is amplified in the lec-
tures of the Past Master. Much care is exercised in
the ritual of the Entered Apprentice to teach the respect
due to the Master of the Lodge, without which, order
would be lost and innovations flood the Institution.

THE ALTAR. — As a support to the copy of the Holy
Scriptures, which forms so essential a piece in the fur-
niture of the Lodge, the Altar would be a highly con-
spicuous object, were there no other meaning conveyed
by it. As an emblem, however, it calls to mind the
piety of Abel, Noah, Abraham, and other Old Testament
worthies, who are recorded as the builders of altars. It
more particularly suggests a sacrifice of prayer and
praise to God.

PRAYER. 19

PRAYER. — The motto, "To Labor is to Pray," is most
congenial to Freemasonry. Much will be said through-
out this volume upon the use of prayer as an essential
feature in the rituals of this ancient Institution. At
first, man was permitted to converse with his Maker,
face to face. But since the fall, a new, yet tender mode
of communication has been divinely instituted between
the soul and its Creator, and this is a fundamental land-
mark in Masonry.

FAITH. — The first of the three principal rounds in the
Masonic Ladder is denominated Faith. This is a grace
of which the Holy Writings are full. It is the cheer of
the sorrowing, and the life of the just. It is the credit
we give to the declarations of God, or to the evidences
of the facts or propositions presented us in the Bible.
The faith, without which we can not please God, combines
assent with reliance, belief with trust. True faith involves
the forsaking of all known sin^ and a cheerful and con-
stant obedience to God's commands.

THE WISE CHOICE OF SOLOMON.

The Entered Apprentice is one who, like the wise
king of the line of David, chose the better part.

When in the dreams of night he lay,

Fancy-led through earth and air,
Whispered from the heavenly way,

The voice of promise met his ear;
Fancy ceased his pulse to thrill —

Gathered home each earnest thought —
And his very heart was still,

Awhile the gracious words he caught

20 THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

"Ask me whatso'er them wilt,
Fame or wealth, or royal power;

Ask me, ask me, and thou sbalt
Such favors have as none before!"

Silence through the midnight air —
Silence in the thoughtful breast —

What of all that 's bright and fair,
' Appeared in youth and hope the best?

*T was no feeble tongue replied,

While in awe his pulses stood:
" Wealth and riches be denied,

But give me WISDOM, voice of God!
Give me wisdom in the sight

Of the people thou dost know;
Give me of thyself the light,

And all the rest I can forego."

Thus, 0 Lord, in visions fair,

When we hear thy promise-voice,
Thus like him will we declare,

That WISDOM is our dearest choice.
Light of heaven, ah, priceless boon!

Guiding o'er the troubled way;
What is all an earthly sun,

To His celestial, chosen ray?

Wisdom hath her dwelling reared,

Lo, the mystic pillars seven !
Wisdom for her guests hath cared,

And meat, and wine, and bread hath given
Turn we not, while round us cry,

Tongues that speak her mystic word;
They that scorn her voice shall die,

But whoso hear are friends of God.

LEBANON, JOPPA, AND MORIAH. 21

THE SECOND SECTION.

THE Second Section of the Entered Apprentice's Lec-
ture is explanatory of the first, being directed chiefly to
showing how reasonable are all the ceremonies and ob-
servances of initiation when properly explained. The
greater part of it is esoteric, or private, and, as such,
can not be explained to any save those who have regu-
larly entered the portals of the Lodge.

LEBANON, JOPPA, AND MORIAH. — These three locali-
ties in the Holy Land are closely combined in the Ma-
sonic theory : Lebanon, as the source of the great cedars
used in the construction of the Temple ; Joppa, as the
place of their transhipment; Moriah, on the site upon
which the edifice was built. The quarries from which
the stone was drawn are supposed to be those found in
the northern side of the range of hills on which the city
of Jerusalem stands. The following lines express the
symbolism which the words in the caption suggest :

Thine in the Quarry, whence the stone
For mystic workmanship is drawn;

On Jordan's shore,

On Zarthan's plain,
Though faint and weary, thine alone.
The gloomy mine knows not a ray;
The heavy toil exhausts the day;

But love keeps bright

The weary heart,
And sings, I'm thine, and thine alway.

Thine on the Hill, whose cedars rear
Their perfect forms and foliage fair;

Each graceful shaft,

And deathless leaf,

22 THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

Of Masons' love the symbols are.

Thine, when a smile pervades the heaven;

Thine, when the sky's with thunder riven;

Each echo swells

Through answering hills,
My Mason-prayer; for thee 'tis given.

Thine in the Temple, holy place,
Where silence reigns, the type of peace ;

With grip and sign,

And mystic line,
My Mason's love I do confess.
Each block I raise, my friendship grows,
Cemented firmly, ne'er to loose;

And when complete,

The work I greet,
• Thine in the joy my bosom knows.

Thine at the midnight, in the cave ;
Thine on the floats upon the wave;

By Joppa's hill,

By Kedron's rill,

And thine when Sabbath rest we have.
Yes, yes, dear friend, my spirit saith,
I'm thine until and after death;

No bounds control

The Mason's soul,
Cemented with a Mason's faith.

THE SETTING MAUL. — As it is one of the wonders of
Divine power, and the fitness of things, that from poison-
ous and inodorous flowers the insect extracts the purest
honey, so it is in the transforming power of Masonic
symbolisms to turn this emblem, the Setting Mauls, in
itself suggestive of noise and violence, into a sweet em-
blem of peace. " The house was built of stone, made
ready before it was brought thither, so that there was

THE SHOE. 23

neither hammer, ax, nor any tool of iron heard in the
house while it was in building." The analogy between
operative and speeulative architecture seizes with avid-
ity upon this sublime thought, and peace reigns through
all the chambers of the Temple of Freemasonry.

" I will give peace in the land," promised Jehovah to
his people, while yet in the wilderness, " and none shall
make you afraid." "Behold I give unto him my cove-
nant of peace." " There is peace to thee, and no hurt."
" The Lord will bless his people with peace." " Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace."

Such are the thoughts suggested by the Setting Mauls.
At the period of the temple-building, universal peace
reigned throughout the earth, and thus the materials for
building and adorning, which were brought from the
utmost parts of the world, were readily collected. It is
only in a time of peace that Freemasonry can flourish.

THE SHOE. — The Shoe was ever an emblem of signifi-
cance in Freemasonry. To remove the Shoe, as Moses
was commanded to do before the Burning Bush, arid as
Joshua was commanded before Jericho, was a token of
reverence. The High-Priest in the Temple went bare-
foot, as a mark of Divine respect. The removal of the
Shoe was also a token of humiliation and subjection, as
when David fled before Absalom, and Isaiah walked
barefoot for three years, and Ezekiel walked barefoot
upon a certain occasion. Hence, the expression in
Psalm cviii, "Over Edom will I cast out my shoe,"
imports the subjugation of the country over which the
shoe is cast.

All these ideas are embraced, to a greater or less
degree, in the Masonic use of the Shoe as an emblem.

24 THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

The plucking off one's shoe, and giving it to another,
was a significant token of a surrendered right of privi-
lege, and this is more directly the Masonic idea. It is
this which is expressed in the following lines :

Take this pledge ; it is a token
Of that truth which ne'er was broken-
Truth, which binds the mystic tie
Under the All-seeing Eye.

this pledge; the ancient brother
By this type bound every other,
Fondly, firmly; death alone
Rends the bond that makes us one,

Take this pledge ; the type so lowly
Is, of all our symbols, holy;
'Tis Divine; it tells of One,
Gives the raindrops and the sun.

Take this pledge ; the token sealeth
All the Judgment-day revealeth;
Honor, truth, fraternal grace
In thy hands with this we place,

THE CABLE-TOW. — The explanation of this emblem is
that of the covenant or tie that binds Masons to each
other and to the institution. That this tie must be one
of much strength , is evidenced by the great antiquity of
the Masonic Order, and the firmness with which it* mem-
bers, in all ages, have resisted every allurement to be-
tray their trust. Scriptural quotations convey the spirit
of this emblem: "Draw me not away with the wicked."
"Draw me, and we will run after thee." "No man can
come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw

THE DAGGER. 25

him.'5 "If any man draw back, my soul shall have no
pleasure in him." "We are not of them who draw back
unto perdition,"

The extent or reach of the Masonic covenants, repre-
sented by the Cable-Tow, is well expressed in the moni-
torial explanation of the extent of the Lodge. It reaches
as far as to heaven, suggesting our duty to God; as far
as the utmost bounds of the habitable earth, suggesting
our duty to our fellow-men ; as far as the inmost re-
cesses of our own hearts, suggesting our duty to our-
selves.

There is a cord of length,

There is a chain of strength —
Around you each I see the sacred coil;

How long, ah, well I know;

How strong, your deeds do show
The while you labor in the sacred toil.

THE DAGGER. — Our remarks upon a preceding em-
blem, the SETTING MAULS, are partly applicable here.
Although the Dagger is a warlike weapon, yet, as a
Masonic emblem, it has its application, in a gentle and
pacific character. It suggests the quiet conscience,
which results from a sense of Masonic covenants kept
and duties done. Tliis inward monitor, the -conscience,
which is the terror of the wicked, is the sweetest com-
panion of the virtuous mind. Paul wrote to his con-
verts, "Our rejoicing is in this, the testimony of our
conscience;" and, again, "We trust we have a good
conscience in all things, willing to live honestly." In
an address he says, "Herein do I exercise myself to
have always a good conscience, void of offense toward
God and toward men." " They being convicted by their

26 THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

own conscience, went out one by one," is the description
of a scene in which the Scribes and Pharisees of olden
time figured. Cain, after the cruel blow fell which de-
prived him of his brother, was convicted by the voice of
his own conscience. The further application of this em-
blem may be seen under the same head upon a preceding
page.

THE JOINED HANDS. — This is an emblem of Fidelity,
an ingredient in the Masonic cement without which the
walls of the institution would speedily crumble and fall.
As -an emblem, it was well known to the first painters
and sculptors of antiquity. Jonathan and David exem-
plified this principle in a remarkable degree. He alone
who is capable of genuine friendship can appreciate the
happiness of reciprocating tokens of fidelity with those
who are deserving of confidence.

The right hand, which is the instrument of mechanical
activity and of strength, is also the seat of Fidelity.
"Thy right hand, 0 God," saith the Prophet of Abarim,
"is become glorious in power." "From the Lord's
right hand went a fiery law for them." "Thy right
hand," says the Psalmist, "hath holden me up. Save
with thy right hand, 0 Lord !"

The use- of the right hand, through all the grades of
Freemasonry, is peculiarly impressive. It combines the
idea of strength with that of love. Taking the candi-
date by the right hand is an assurance of protection, of
brotherly guidance, of brotherly affection. It, in effect,
says to him, that the security of the Craft is around
him, the banded strength of the Lodge defends him, and
the esteem and love of all hearts are secured unto him,
so long as he remains faithful to his trust.

FRIENDLY ADVICE. 27

THE LAMB. — In our paragraph upon the Apron, in a
preceding page, we remarked that the most tender and
beautiful thought connected with its symbolism is, that
the Masonic Apron is made of lamb-skin alone. This
emblem of innocence is so peculiarly appropriate, that
even the Messiah himself condescended to represent his
own spotless nature under the figure of a Lamb. One
of the older prophets prefigures his death in the words,
"He was led like a lamb to the slaughter." There is no
passage in the Bible more affecting than this. In con-
templating the Masonic emblem, the Lamb, the mind is
suspended in solemn rapture between earth and heaven.
A pacific temperament steals over the soul, and while we
admire the tender and submissive nature of this gentle
tenant of the field, we are taught what must be our own
character if we would attain to that perfection of which
Freemasonry teaches. Thus the very clothing of the
Freemason, like the symbolical garments which covered
the Priest under the typical law, is suggestive of the
highest graces and virtues of our profession.

FRIENDLY ADVICE. — An old author proffers some ad-
vice to gentlemen who may be inclined to become Ma-
sons, of which the following is a synopsis : "When you
intend to become a Freemason, go with your friend to
the hall where the Lodge is held, and examine the Char-
ter or Warrant under which the Lodge is held. See that
it is written or printed on parchment, signed by some
Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master, Grand Wardens,
and Grand Secretary, and sealed with the Grand Lodge
Seal; appointing certain persons named therein, with
their successors, to be Master and Wardens ; authorizing
them to congregate and hold a Lodge, and therein make

28 THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

and admit Freemasons according to ancient custom.
Then call for the By-Laws, and having seriously perused
them, consider whether your natural disposition will in-
cline you to be conformable to them. Next call for the
List of Members, where you may find the names of some
of your most intimate and esteemed friends, and perhaps
the names of some you would not wish to associate with.
If these researches prove agreeable, you may then ven-
ture to sign a petition for initiation, lay down your de-
posit-money, and await with patience the result."

THE THIRD SECTION.

THE Third Section of the Entered Apprentice's Lec-
ture presents full details of the organization, fitting up,
and history of the Lodge. The greater part of it is
exoteric, and as such, may be explained to any inquirer,
though even those passages that seem to have the least
mystery about them are parts of the unwritten history
of the Order, and can only be perfectly understood by
the initiated.

CONSTITUTION OF THE LODGE. — To avoid those ir-
regularities which would result upon the indiscriminate
meetings of Masons, and the unrestricted working up of
materials into the Lodge, it has been wisely ordained
that no assemblage of the Craft can be opened with
Masonic form, unless the presiding officer shall be fur-
nished with a charter or warrant from the Grand Lodge
possessing jurisdiction, empowering such an act. This
is the source of temporal authority, and suggests a care-
ful attention to forms. In addition to this, there must
likewise be a copy of the Holy Scriptures. This is the

ANCIENT MEETING-PLACES. 29

source of Divine authority, and suggests a careful atten-
tion to principles. With this copy, there must be -the
essential accompaniments of the Square and Compass,
admonishing the circle of laborers of the necessity of
squaring their actions and circumscribing their passions.
This suggests a careful attention to self-discipline, with-
out which the workings of Freemasonry were as a sound-
ing brass and a tinkling cymbal.

Not less than seven members constitute a Lodge in
this degree, and any assemblage not in accordance with
all the requirements upon this page, that ventures to
open a Lodge in Masonic form, is clandestine, and comes
under the ban of the Craft universal.

ANCIENT MEETING-PLACES. — In days of old, the meet-
ings of the Masonic Craft were held upon the summits
of hills, or in crypts at their bases. This was for pur-
poses of seclusion, which is essential to the Masonic
work. Hills and dales were accounted sacred places;
men thought themselves nearer God there than else-
where. The law was given to Moses upon a mountain
summit, nine thousand feet high. Some of the most
affecting scenes between King Solomon and his builders
occurred in the crypts beneath Mounts Moriah and Sion.
The great sacrifice for sin, which terminated the Mosaic
dispensation of rites and ceremonies, occurred upon Cal-
vary, which is a part of the mountain range on which
the city of Jerusalem stands.

In modern times an attempt is made to express this
symbolism by holding Lodge-meetings in the highest
apartments of an edifice. Then there is nothing inter-
venes between the covering of the Lodge — on which
heavenly bodies are depictured — and the great canopy

SO THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

alluded to below, in which the heavenly bodies shine.
No eyes look down upon the Mason-work but the eyes
of angels deputed as ministering spirits to minister for
them who shall be heirs of salvation, and the All-seeing
Eye, which pervades the inmost recesses of the human
heart.

EXTENT OF THE LODGE. — The limits of the mystical
Lodge are the cardinal points; nothing less will satisfy
the expansive nature of the principles inculcated in this
system. The apartment in which Masons assemble is
symbolical of the universe, illimitable on every side, the
proper temple of Deity, whose center is every- where,
whose circumference is nowhere. To an entering Mason,
it is the world iri miniature.

"Wherever man is tracing

The weary ways of care,
'Midst arid deserts pacing,

Or land of balmy air.
We surely know each other;

And with our words of cheer,
The Brother hails his Brother,

And hope wings lightly there.

Wherever tears are falling,

The soul's December rain —
Or heavy sighs are calling

To human hearts in vain;
Wherever prayer is spoken,

In earnestness of faith,
And we perceive the token

That tells our Master's death;

Wherever man is lying,

Unnoticed and unknown,
Uncared-for in his dying,

Unheard in cry and groan,

SUPPORTS OF THE LODGE. 31

We surely knovT each other;

And with our words of cheer,
The Brother hails his Brother,

And hope wings lightly there.

SUPPORTS OF THE LODGE. — The three foundation-stones
upon which the structure of speculative Masonry was
originally laid were entitled Wisdom, Strength, and
Beauty. These were well named: for there was Wisdom
to conceive the plan above all others practical; there
was Strength to execute the plan above all others com-
plicated and laborious; and there was Beauty to adorn
the plan above all others capable of receiving the ele-
gancies of thought. It were almost superfluous to com-
ment upon these three words, Wisdom, Strength, and
Beauty. "Happy," said the wisest of men, "is the man
that findeth wisdom — better than silver and gold, more
precious than rubies. Length of days is in her right
hand, and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways
are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace."
"In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon and said,
Ask what I shall give thee; and Solomon said, Give thy
servant an understanding heart."

Let those who deny that Wisdom is evinced in the struc-
ture of Freemasonry, explain, if they can, the exceeding
Strength with which it has defied the influences of time
and the oppositions of evil men. Let them explain the
Beauty with which it stands before the world, the most
perfect specimen of moral architecture extant, the most
popular institution, the most highly respected in its
membership, and the only esoterical system upon earth
that has not yielded to the prying eyes of an inquisitive
age.

82 THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

COVERING OF THE LODGE. — In a preceding paragraph
allusion is made to the fact that Lodges seek an upper
chamber for their places of assemblage, so that there may
be nothing interposed between them and the celestial con-
cave, save their own ceiling, upon which are figured the
heavenly bodies. In the symbolisms of the Masonic in-
stitution, the covering of the Lodge is the starry-decked
canopy, the nearest representation of the heavenly home
beyond which is afforded in this life. Every object in a
Mason's Lodge points to this. The hopes, watered and
fed by the inculcations of the lectures, will have their
fruition only in this. To the happy land, veiled by the
resplendent curtain above, he strives to approach by a
Ladder, seen by the sleeper upon Bethel's pillar, when
in his lonely slumber God vouchsafed to him a vision.
The assent by grades agrees with our own consciousness
of weakness. There are many steps, intentionally made
short and easy, to conform to human weakness, and every
meeting of the Lodge affords us new encouragement to
advance along the ascending way. Three of the steps,
Faith, Hope, and Charity, are more distinctly marked
than the others; and happy the man who places his feet
successively upon them. Firmly planted upon the third,
the canopy of heaven is not far distant, which being
drawn aside by an angel's hand, the flight is ended, the
aspirant has his reward !

FURNITURE OF THE LODGE. — In subsequent pages of
this volume, much space is devoted to the Furniture of
the Sanctuary in the wilderness and that of the Tem-
ple of Solomon. These were elaborate, costly, and em-
blematical of all the purposes of the Mosaic dispensation
The Furniture of the Masonic Lodge is more simple, yet

ORNAMENTS OF THE LODGE. 33

equally expressive — it is the Holy Bible, Square, and
Compass. In the first section of this Lecture these
objects are merely described as emblems, but in the
present connection they have a higher meaning. The
precepts and examples contained in the volume thus used
to furnish the Lodge are held in highest veneration.
He who esteems them not, is ignorant and unworthy of
our companionship. It is at once a guide through the
present world and a passport to that which is to come.
A terrible denunciation has been threatened to him who
shall add to or diminish from the matter which the finger
of God has placed there. It is dedicated to God in the
threefold division of the Masonic Furniture.

The Square will have ample elucidation in other por-
tions of this volume ; and it only needs here to say, that,
in the proper distribution of the Lodge Furniture, it is
dedicated to the Master of the Lodge, as the Compass is
to the Members: the Square teaching official responsi-
bility, the Compass individual regulation of desires and
due circumspection of passions.

ORNAMENTS OF THE LODGE. — As one of the three prin-
cipal supports of the Lodge is termed Beauty, it is an-
alogous to this that there should be Ornaments of the
Lodge. These are the Mosaic Pavement, the Indented
Skirting that surrounds the Pavement, and the Star in
its center. These, like all other Masonic objects, are
emblematical of moral and religious instructions. It has
already been said that the apartment in which Masons
assemble represents the moral universe; the very floor
of it suggests the course of human life, checkered with
good and evil. One who enters it is reminded, in that
epitome of his own career, of the vicissitudes that are
3

•j! THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

both before "him and behind him. If he is in a condition
of distress, he derives comfort from the reflection that he
is surrounded with white squares; if in a condition of
prosperity, he is taught to be humble, in view of the
darker passages of life, to which his very next step may
expose him.

The Border, or Skirting, is an emblem full of hope to
those who trust, as all Masons profess to do, in God; it
prefigures the blessings that are derived from a steady
dependence upon Divine Providence, which has its refer-
ence in the Star that gleams in the center. To such of
the Craft as blend their hopes of bliss in Jesus, the Son
of God, this combination of emblems suggests the sub-
limest aspirations.

LIGHTS OF THE LODGE. — The emblems representing the
sources of Masonic light, or rather the mediums through
which Masonic instruction is directly conveyed to the
membership, are called Lights. They represent the
Master and the two Wardens, who are the windows
through which the lights of tradition, revelation, and the
Grand Lodge having jurisdiction, can react the minds
of the Craft. This is but an extended reference of the
thought conveyed in our elucidation of the Lesser Lights
in a preceding page. The situation of these lights cor-
responding with those of the principal officers of the
Lodge, refers the mind to traditions of the Tabernacle
and the Temple, which are esoteric ; also to the course of
the sun through the heavens.

JEWELS or THE LODGE. — By the term Jewel, we imply
whatever is esteemed most precious among us, and dis-
played as such to represent the abounding wealth of the
Institution. Morality, Equality, and Rectitude of Life,

JEWELS OF THE LODGE. 35

for instance, are three moral treasures, which have their
emblems in the Square, the Level, and the Plumb. The
rude material in the quarry of human life, though in-
crusted with many excrescences, is yet precious as afford-
ing us objects for our moral work, and this is represented
by the Rough Ashlar. The same material, when fitted
by Divine Grace and the practice of all virtues for the
Temple above, is typified by the Perfect Ashlar; while
the Book of God, read in nature and revelation, from
which we derive all necessary degree instruction while
upon earth, is represented by the Trestle-board. These
three symbols are happily selected and happily named
Jewels.

Who wears THE SQUARE upon his breast,

Does in the eye of God attest,
And in the face of man,

That all his actions do compare

With the Divine, th' unerring Square-
That squares great virtue's plan :

That he erects his Edifice

By this design, and this, and this I

Who wears THE LEVEL, says that pride
Does not within his soul abide,

Nor foolish vanity;
That man has but a common doom,
And from the cradle to the tomb,

A common destiny :
That he erects his Edifice
By this design, and this, and this t

vVho wears THE G; ah, type divine!
Abhors the atmosphere of sin,
And trusts in God alone ;

36 THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

His Father, Maker, Friend, he knows —
He vows, and pays to God his vows,

As by th' Eternal throne :
And he erects his Edifice
By this design, and this, and this J

Who wears THE PLUMB, behold how true
His words, his walk! and could we view

The chambers of his soul,
Each thought enshrined, so pure, so good/
By the stern line of rectitude,

Points truly to the goal :
And he erects his Edifice
By tfos design, and this, and this I

Thus life and beauty come to view,
In each design our fathers drew,

So glorious, so sublime ;
Each breathes an odor from the bloom
Of gardens bright beyond the tomb,

Beyond the flight of time:
And bids us build on this and this,
The walls of God's own Edifice!

SITUATION OF THE LODGE. — The Lodge is situated due
east and west. All knowledge emanated from the east.
Mankind originally emigrated from the east. The He-
brews used the word East to describe all the countries or
provinces lying around and beyond the rivers Tigris and
Euphrates, or east or north-east of Judea. The expres-
sion in Genesis, "from the east/' denotes the country
east or south-east of Mount Ararat. In traveling from
the foot of that mountain to the plain of Shinar, the de-
scendants of Noah would pass southerly on the eastern
side of the mountains of Media till they came opposite

DEDICATION OF THE LODGE. 37

to Shinar, or to a point north-east of Babylon, from
which, by a direct western course, they would pass into
Assyria and the plain of Shinar. This is said to be the
usual caravan route to this day.

The Tabernacle in the Wilderness was set east and
west; so was the Temple of Solomon. The walls for-
merly inclosing that edifice are proofs of this, corre-
sponding in their present direction with the cardinal
points. The miraculous blast by which the Red Sea was
opened before the feet of the Israelitish host, blew from
the east. The bodies of the Masonic dead are buried
due east and west.

"DEDICATION OF THE LODGE. — While the central figure
in the Lodge, the Holy Scriptures, is dedicated to Him
from whom it came, the Lodge itself, with all its furni-
ture, surroundings, and labors, is dedicated to one of two
Sainted Patrons of Masonry, men who in their day ex-
emplified the higher graces taught in the lectures —
Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist.
The elder of these was sent from. God to announce the
coming of Jesus Christ. The other was called, by the
commanding voice of Jesus, to leave the humble avoca-
tion in which he had been reared, and go out into the
world as an evangelist. Whatever virtues of courage,
perseverance, obedience to God's Word, and unswerving
fidelity that either of these Masonic patrons displayed,
is adopted among the treasures of the Lodge. It mat-
ters not whether the apocryphal statements which make
these men to have been Masons are true or false, it is
enough to know that their moral labors were our moral
labors, their victories over sin were our victories, and
the bright world gained by their perseverance in a good

38 THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

cause is the same wherever the Supreme Architect pre-
sides, and where there are "many mansions" remaining
for us. In the mean time, it is safe to aver that no deed
whose character would have prevented either of these,
two men from engaging in it, is suitable to us, who have
dedicated our Lodge and its labors to them.

TENETS OF MASONRY. — It is but the summing up of
what has already been repeatedly, intimated in these
pages, to say that the tenets of Masonry are Brotherly
Love, Relief, and Truth. Being so great a family of
men, of all countries arid conditions, there is no cement
would hold together such a band save that of Love.
Being mutually interested in each other's welfare, it re-
quires no law to compel us to look after the wants of
such of the band as are sick, solitary, or in distress.
The grand aim of the institution is best expressed in the
charge given to the members, " to soothe the unhappy,
sympathize with their misfortunes, compassionate th^ir
miseries, and, as far as in us lies, restore peace to their
troubled minds." Our friendships are formed and our
connections established upon this basis.

The first and greatest lesson communicated to each
initiate is Tntih, to be a good man and true; true to
God, true to the institution, true to his country, true to
himself. Hypocrisy and deceit are abhorrent to the
good Mason. The volume upon our altar is the Book
of Truth. One reason for the peculiarly strong engage-
ments under which the initiate is placed to preserve the
essential merits of Freemasonry is, that by his fidelity
in this lesser trust, the brethren may judge of his ability
to hold fast the truth in all the greater relations of life
and of eternity.

CARDINAL VIRTUES OF MASONRY. 39

CARDINAL VIRTUES OF MASONRY. — The distinction be-
tween the tenets and the virtues of Masonry is barely
sufficient to make an easy grade in the moral assent.
Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence, and Justice are judi-
cious selections from those classes cf merits so abund-
antly developed in the Scriptures. It is both our duty
and our happiness, our labor and our reward, to culti-
vate Temperance; the want of it unfits the initiate for
usefulness and honor among the Craft, and renders him
liable to the worst indiscretions. That mental stability
which sustains with manly composure the evils of life,
and enables a man to resist every proposal to do wrong,
is Fortitude. Prudence stands at the helm, while For-
titude buffets the tempest, and thus the voyage is made
secure. " If thou faint in the day of adversity," said our
First Grand Master, " thy strength is small ; the prudent
man dealeth with knowledge, but the fool layeth open his
folly." One of the most earnest of Evangelists said,
"Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate
in all things." As the three -virtues above named re-
late to our self-government, and the usefulness accruing
therefrom, Justice, the last of the four, advises us in
our dealings with others. The Lord, speaking through
Moses, admonished his people in the wilderness: uThat
which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou
mayest live;" and he promises that "the just shall live
by faith." -

MASONIC SERVICE. — The manner of Masonic service
is finely represented by the emblems of chalk, charcoal,
and clay, the last in this section. From the lessons of
antiquity we derive instruction in every step up the mys-
tic Ladder. At this point we may know that the char-

40 THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

acteristics of our ancient brethren in their relations to
their Masters were freedom, fervency, and zeal. Their
freedom of service was manifest by night as by day, and
they gave off their good works as generously as the rose-
leaf its odor. Their fervency of service was like that of
the meridian sun itself. Their zeal emulated that of the
fertile soil, which in the most inclement season is pre-
paring itself, through the hidden agencies of nature, for
the work of production. Without such manner of service
the great Temple could not have been completed in one
ordinary generation. It was because heart and soul
were thrown into the handiwork, that such a piece of
perfection was begun and finished within the lifetime of a
child. God was honored, not only in the work, but in
the manner of it, and for thousands of years the story
of the great Temple has perpetuated the freedom, fer-
vency, and zeal of its builders.

CONCLUDING REMARKS UPON THE SCRIPTURES. — The
value of the Scriptures and the duty of perusing them
appear from many considerations. We may estimate tho
character and tendency of Divine revelation by contrast-
ing the condition of countries where its true light shin-
eth with that of other countries to which its beams have
not extended. The heathen world is large enough, surely,
for experiment. In many of its territories the richest
blessings of sun and soil are enjoyed in abundance, and
there external nature presents itself in its stateliest and
loveliest forms; but where are the beauties of holiness?
where the fruits and flowers of moral culture? Or if
these are disparaged in comparison with intellectual
stature and idolized genius, where are the distinguished
philosophers and orators, historians and poets of pagan

CONCLUDING REMARKS ON THE SCRIPTURES. 41

communities? Amidst numberless diversities of condi-
tion, they seem to have only this in common to explain
their wretchedness, that they want those oracles of God
which have been committed unto us ; and the conclusions
appear fairly deducible that it is, in the absence of the
Scriptures, the people are there destroyed for lack of
knowledge ; that spiritual ignorance, in addition to its
proper maladies, has there entailed civil and mental
prostration; and that scoffers in our native land owe to
the emancipating influence of God's Word that very
freedom of thinking which, with ungrateful and impious
hand, they wield for the overthrow of its doctrines and
institutions.

.If we confine our attention to those countries which
possess the Word of God, a comparison between that
portion of the community by whom the Scriptures are
perused, and that portion by whom they are neglected,
will conduct us to a like conclusion. No doubt external
propriety may, in many instances, be promoted by the
simple circumstance of dwelling among Christians who
are "living epistles of Jesus Christ, known and read of
all men;" and it is not less certain that many may con-
sult the records of truth, and yet hold the truth in un-
righteousness. But these apparent exceptions do not
invalidate the general and incontestible fact that the
classes most conversant with God's Word are most dis-
tinguished for the graces which it inculcates ; while they
who consort with thieves, and partake with adulterers,
^ho give their mouth to evil, and frame deceit with their
tongue, are the wicked, who hate instruction and cast
God's Word behind them.

These thoughts, from the pen of a learned divine, are

42 THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.

applicable to Masonry, a system founded upon the Bible
and dependent upon the revealed Word of God for all
its virtuous principles and inculcations.

The effects marked above, as resulting upon the free
spread of the Scriptures, are also manifest upon the op-
erations of Freemasonry. Wherever a well-conducted
Lodge is planted, its membership being chosen by the
cautionary landmarks of the institution, and governed by
its moral and spiritual code of laws, a general improve-
ment is visible throughout the community. The vices
of theft, debauchery, intemperance, profanity, Sabbath-
breaking, and irreligion are much lessened, while the
positive virtues of charity, self-control, and attention to
religious duties are proportionally advanced. This phe-
nomenon is not apparent upon the operations of any
other society, within our knowledge, outside of the
Church; and were there no other evidences of the
merits of this ancient institution, this, that it. produces
many of the best fruits of the Bible, would be sufficient
to recommend it to all thoughtful persons.

THE FELLOW CRAFT.

THE FELLOW CRAFT.

THIS LODGE OF FIVE from Tyre came,
Their leader one of matchless fame ;
All through the toiling eeasons seven,
Their time upon this work was given.

THIS LODGE OP FIVE from Joppa's shore
To Sion's hill have journeyed o'er;
The quarry's inmost crypt have traced,
Whence many a stone the wall has graced.

THIS LODGE OF FIVE have reared the shaft
That on the eastward hails the Craft;
And well ihey know each mystic line
lhat sanctifies the great Design.

THIS LODGE OF FIVE with faith obey
The holy Law and holy Day,
And humbly bow when'er they see
The emblem of the Deity.

THIS LODGE OF FIVE, for honest toil,
Good wages have, Corn, Wine, and Oil;
And should a brother be in want,
They ne'er forget the covenant.

THIS LODGE OF FIVE have nearly done
The glorious work so long begun,
And homeward-bound they soon will see
The MASTER in eternity.

THE FELLOW CEAFT.

THE FIRST SECTION.

THE THEORY OF THE DEGREE OF FELLOW
CRAFT.

THE Degree of Fellow Craft represents the Entered
Apprentice complete. It is not merely the second grade
in the series; all that is to follow does not express so
great an advance from the Degree of Fellow Craft, as
that of the Fellow Craft is from the Entered Apprentice.
The candidate is no longer a beginner, working without
wages, forbidden to look into the plans and drawings of
the work, excluded from consultations, without a foun-
dation, but a Fellow-workman with the best; paid an
honest stipend, invited to give counsel upon questions
of architectural difficulty, and assisted to build up a rep-
utation, in which all the Craft will take a brotherly in-
terest.

As, therefore, large privileges are conferred upon the
Fellow Craft, so heavier responsibilities accumulate upon
him. Covenants of power restrain him, duties are en-
joined upon him, which" require industrious application
of the best lessons learned in tho preceding grade ; and,

(45)

46 THE FELLOW CRAFT.

above all, he is taught to reverence the name of Him
from whom cometh every good and every perfect gift.

THE ALTAR. — The name of the Altar erected by Moses
to commemorate his victory over the Amalekites at Rep-
hidim, was Jehovah-nissi, signifying "the Lord, my Ban-
ner." This title is equally appropriate to the Masonic
Altar. "The Lord is the banner," or standard, of the
institution in a peculiar sense; and the Altar, which is
the most conspicuous object in the Lodge, is used to up-
hold His Word before the eyes of the Craft. According
to the Mosaic code, " whatsoever touched the Altar must
be holy;" and this, again, applies with great force to the
Masonic system, whose offerings are the most sound
gifts in the power of man to bestow. The poet says:

"Upon the sacred Altar lies,
Ah ! many a precious sacrifice,

Made by these working men ;
The passions curbed, the lusts restrained,
And hands with human gore unstained,
And hearts from envy clean."

All contained in the Masonic covenants, whether af-
firmative or negative, whether in the nature of duties or
restrictions, are so many sacrifices made for God and
in the name of God. He alone who can communicate
saving efficacy to any means of doing good, has com-
manded his blessing from on high upon the sacrifices
made on the Masonic Altar, and so may he ever do!

PRAYER. — The view of the Masonic Altar always sug-
gests Prayer as well as sacrifice. The introduction of
Prayer as an essential portion of the Masonic drama is
so general, that the Verbal Landmark declares, "No

47

man should ever enter upon any great and important
undertaking without first invoking the blessings of
Deity." Prayer, as understood in the Masonic theory,
is the application of want to Him who only can relieve
it; the voice of sin to Him who only can pa'rdon it. It
is the urgency of poverty, the prostration of humility,
the fervency of penitence, the confidence of trust. It is
not eloquence, but earnestness; not the definition of
helplessness, but the feeling of it ; not figures of speech,
but compunction of soul. It is the " Lord save us, we
perish," of Peter — the cry of faith to the ear of mercy.
Adoration is the noblest employment of created beings;
confession the natural language of guilty creatures; grat-
itude the spontaneous expression of pardoned sinners.

Prayer is desire. It is not a conception of the mind,
nor a mere effort of the intellect, nor an act of the
memory; but an elevation of the soul toward its Maker,
a pressing sense of our own ignorance and infirmity, a
^consciousness of the perfection of God, of his readiness
to hear, of his power to help, of his willingness to save.
It is not an emotion produced in the senses, nor an
effort wrought in the imagination ; but a determination
of the will, an effusion of the heart. Prayer is the
guide to self-knowledge, by prompting us to look after
our sins, in order to pray against them; a motive to
vigilance, by teaching us to guard against those sins
which, through self-examination, we have been enabled to
detect.

Prayer is an act both of the understanding and of the
heart. The understanding must apply itself to the
knowledge of the divine perfections, or the heart will
not be led to the adoration of them. It would not be

48 THE FELLOW CRAFT.

a reasonable service were the mind excluded. It must
be rational worship, or the human worshiper would not
bring to the service the distinguishing faculty of his na-
ture, which is reason. It must be spiritual worship, or
it would want the distinctive quality to make it accept-
able to Him who has declared that he will be worshiped
Jn spirit and in truth.

Prayer is a privilege with which God has favored us,
and a necessary part of that obedience which he has
required of us to "pray without ceasing; in every thing
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, letting
our requests be made known unto God."

THE SQUARE. — In all languages, the idea Masonically
conveyed by this emblem has an expression. The poet
has done for the Masonic Order what was desired, in
the following lines:

We meet upon the Level and we part upon the Square;
What words of precious meaning those words Masonic are!
Come, let us contemplate them, they are worthy of a thought,
Tu the very soul of Masonry those precious words are wrought.

We meet upon the Level, though from every station come,
The rich man from his mansion, and the poor man from his home :
For the one must leave his greatness outside the Mason's door,
While the other finds his level upon the checkered floor.

We part upon the Square, for the world must have its due;
We mingle with the multitude, a faithful band and true^
But the influence of our gatherings in Masonry is green;
And we long upon the Level to renew the happy scene.

There's a world where all are equal ; we are hurrying toward it fast:
We tihall meet upon the Level there, when the gates of death ars

pass'd ;

We shall stand before the Orient, and our Master will be there,
To try the blocks we offer with his own unerring Square.

PRAYER. 49

We shall meet upon the Level there, but never thence depart;
There 's a Mansion — 't is all ready for each trusting, faithful

heart ;

There's a Mansion and a welcome, and a multitude is there,
Who have met upon the Level, and been tried upon the Square.

Let us meet upon the Level, then, while laboring patient here;
Let us meet and let us labor, though the labor be severe;
Already in the western sky the signs bid us prepare
To gather up our Working Tools, and part upon the Square.

Hands round, ye faithful Masons, in the bright, fraternal chain :
We part upon the Square below to meet in heaven again;
0 what words of precious meaning those words Masonic are —

We meet upon the Level, and we part upon the Square !

•

The ways of science are beautiful. Knowledge is at-
tained by degrees. Wisdom dwells with contemplation.
There are we to seek her. Though the passage be diffi-
cult, the further we proceed the easier it will come.

If we are united, our society will flourish. Let all
things give place to peace and good fellowship. Uniting
in the grand design, let us be happy in ourselves, and
endeavor to contribute to the happiness of others. Let
us promote the useful arts, and by them mark our supe-
riority and distinction. Let us cultivate the moral vir-
tues, and improve in all that is good and amiable. Let
the genius of Masonry preside over our conduct, and
under its sovereign sway let us act with becoming dig-
nity. Let our recreations be innocent and pursued with
moderation. Never let us expose our character to de-
rision. Thus shall we act in conformity with our pre-
cepts, and support the name we have always borne, of
being a reputable, a regular, and a uniform society.

THE LEVEL. — The pride of birth, talent, and circum-
4

50 THE FELLOW CRAFT.

stances which so powerfully affect the mind of their pos-
sessors forms the most serious obstacle with which the
Masonic laborer has to contend. To assist him in a task
in which so many fail, the Level is presented to him, and
its emblematical meaning expounded. He is admonished
that our entrance upon earth, as well as our exit, is
humble; that the inclemencies of life equally afflict us;
that the baleful passions of human nature know no dis-
tinctions of rank; that sorrow, sickness, disease, and
mental afflictions are equally distributed; that, in truth,
all mankind do "stand upon a Level," so far as their
relations to the Author of their being is concerned.
These thoughts are calculated to level our pride with
the plane on which God has designed us to move. In
the burial service of Masonry the -reference to the Level
is exceedingly appropriate. In the installation ceremonies
it is said : " The Level demonstrates that we are descended
from the same stock, partake of the same nature, and
share the same hope; because a time will come, and the
wisest know not how soon, when all distinctions but that
of goodness will cease, and Death, the grand leveler of
human greatness, reduce us to the same state." The
remarks made upon the emblem of "the right angle,
horizontal, and perpendicular," upon a preceding page,
may be used here.

The qualifications necessary to form a worthy member
of our Order are a wise philanthropy, pure morality, in-
violable secrecy, and a taste for the polite arts.

I. Our Philanthropy. — An ancient maxim was that
the whole world is, in effect, a great republic, of which
every nation is a family, and every particular person a
child. To revive and spread abroad this maxim, drawn

THE LEVEL. 51

from the nature of man, is one of the ends of our es-
tablishment. We wish to unite all men of an agreeable
humor and enlightened understanding, not only by the
love of the polite arts, but still more by the great prin-
ciples of virtue. From such a union the interests of
the Fraternity become the interests of all mankind.
From such every nation may draw solid knowledge, and
all the subjects of different kingdoms may unite without
jealousy, live without disorder, and mutually love one
another without renouncing their country. Freemasonry
instructs in our duty to the Supreme Architect of the
universe, to our neighbors, and to ourselves. It instructs
us to be peaceable citizens to the civil powers, and never
to be concerned in plots and conspiracies against the
well-being of the nations. It teaches truth, peace, and
concord. It bids us open our ears to the cries of the
unfortunate, and to extend our hands to them with the
cup of consolation. It unites men of all nations in one
affectionate band of brotherhood. It shows us that we
are all upon a level, and that merit is the only just dis-
tinction. It orders us to live within compass, and al-
ways to act upon the square with the world and with
one another. It is not gloomy, but cheerful. It forbids
intemperance, but encourages rational mirth and innocent
pleasure. In short, it is a superstructure fixed with
solid firmness on the broad basis of moral and' social
virtue.

II. Our Morality. — Sound morality is the second dis-
position required in our society. Let a man's religion
or mode of it be what it will,, we do not exclude him
from the benefits and advantages of oar Order, provided
he believes in the glorious Architect of heaven and earth,

52 THE" FELLOW CRAFT.

and practices the sacred duties of morality. We are
directed to expand our hearts with the most generous
sentiments, to root out bigotry, and stop the cruel
hand of persecution. We are bid to unite with virtuous
men of the most distant countries and opposite opinions ;
to unite with them in the firm and pleasing bond of fra-
ternal love; to regard them with the truest affection.

As a severe, cruel, gloomy, and unsociable philosophy
disgusts men with virtue, we are desirous of rendering
it amiable by the allurements of innocent pleasures,
agreeable music, pure joy, and rational gayety. Our sen-
timents are not what the profane world and ignorant
vulgar imagine them to be; all the vices of the heart are
banished from them, as well as irreligion, libertinism, ex-
cess and debauchery.

We banish from our Lodge every dispute which may
tend to alter the tranquillity of the mind and gentleness
of the manner, or to destroy those sentiments of friend-
ship and that perfect harmony to be found only in the
retrenching all indecent excesses and discordant pas-
sions.

The obligations that are laid upon us are to protect
3ur brethren by our authority, to enlighten them by our
understanding, to edify them by our virtues, to sacrifice
every personal resentment toward them, and diligently
to seek for every thing that will best contribute to the
peacej concord, and credit of our society.

III. Our Secrecy. — We have secrets among us. They
compose a language sometimes mute and sometimes very
eloquent, to be communicated at the greatest distance,
and to know our brethren by, let their country or their
language be what it may. What has scarcely happened

THE LEVEL. 53

to any other society has happened to us. Our Lodges
have been established in and are now spread over all
polite nations, and yet among so great a multitude of
men, no brother has ever yet betrayed our secrets. Dis-
positions the most volatile, the most indiscreet, and the
least trained up to secrecy, learn this great science as
soon as they enter among us. So great an empire over
the mind has this idea of brotherly union ! This invio-
lable secrecy powerfully contributes to link together the
subjects of different kingdoms, and to facilitate and ren-
der mutual between them the communication of benefits.
We have many examples in the annals of our Order
of brethren traveling into foreign parts, and, finding
themselves distressed, have made themselves known to
our Lodges and received all needful assistance. We are
connected by solemn promises : if any one should fail in
the solemn promises that connect us, there is no greater
punishment than the remorse of conscience, the infamy
of perfidy, and expulsion from our society.

To prevent the abuses that befell the fraternities of
Greece and Egypt, women are excluded from our Order.
It is not that we do not pay a natural and due regard
to that most beauteous part of the creation, or that we
are unjust enough to look upon them as incapable of
secrecy, but because their presence might insensibly
alter the purity of our maxims and our manners. We
are afraid that Love would enter with them, and draw us
to his flowery, tempting paths, where Jealousy would dif-
fuse his venom -through our hearts, and from affectionate
brethren transform us into implacable rivals.

IV. Our Taste for the Polite Arts. — The fourth qual-
ification necessary to enter into our Order is a taste for

51 THE FELLOW CRAFT.

useful science and liberal arts of every kind. These
improve the heart as much as the understanding. They
moderate the selfish affections, sweeten and harmonize
the temper, and the better fit men for social happiness,
that happiness which Freemasonry most zealously en-
deavors to promote.

THE PLUMB. — It only needs a glance at a " bowed
and tottering wall," or a building inclining sensibly
from the perpendicular, or, what is more common and
far more painful, a human being of either sex, wandering
from the paths of rectitude, to learn the lesson of this
emblem. The Plumb-line seems designed by the Author
of virtue to teach us what safety there is in truth.

Who wears the Plumb, behold how true
His words and walk ! and could we view

The chambers of his soul,
Each thought enshrined, so pure, so good,
By the stern line of rectitude,

Points upward to the goal.

The Plumb admonishes us to walk uprightly in our
several stations; to hold the scale of justice in equal
poise; to observe the just medium between intemperance
and pleasure, and to make our passions and prejudices
coincide with the line of our duty. It is the interior of
moral rectitude, teaching us to avoid dissimulation in
conversation and action, and to direct our paths to the
path which leads to immortality. Read here the remarks
upon a previous page relative to the emblem of "the
right angle, the horizontal, and the perpendicular."

RECEPTION ON THE SQUARE. — As we remarked on a
preceding page, under the head "Theory of the Fellow

TUB ATTENTIVE EAR, ETC. 55

Craft,'-' this degree is in strictness the working degree of
the institution. All its analogies relate to labor and pil-
grimage. The Fellow Crafts came from Phoenicia to erect
the temples and other stately edifices of Solomon ; we en-
gage to erect more stately edifices for our King — "the
King of kings and Lord of lords." No effort is spared to
impress upon the Fellow Crafts that "they should eat no
man's bread for naught;" and amongrthe methods em-
ployed is the application of the Square. To try the
works of every Mason, the Square is presented as the
probation of his life, proving whether his works are reg-
ular and uniform or not.

Who wears the Square upon his breast^
Does in the sight of God attest,

And in the face of man,
That all his actions will compare
With the Divine, the unerring Square,

That squares great virtue's plan.

Masons should be of one principle and one rank with-
out the distinctions of pride and pageantry; intimating
that from high to low the minds of Masons should be
inclined to good works, above which no man stands ex-
alted by his fortune.

THE ATTENTIVE EAR, THE INSTRUCTIVE TONGUE, THE
FAITHFUL BKEAST. — The use of these three emblems is
so natural as scarcely to require comment. Information
upon all the inculcations of Masonry is chiefly acquired
through the attentive ear, both the eye and the hand being
subordinate to that. Ignorance is the secret of indo-
lence in Masonry : the idle relish not, because they know
aot. Though the mine is rich, they have never pene-

56 THE FELLOW CRAFT.

trated to its bed of golden treasures. Strange that any
men, too careless to moralize, or too stupid to discern,
should enter the porch of Masonry only to fall asleep in
the arms of indolence and dullness.

It is a marked truth in the operations of Masonry,
that he who has the instructive tongue is ever ready to
communicate the science to those entitled to receive it.
The genius that conducted him through the mystic temple
inspired him with all the virtues of the institution^ The
annals of the Order are full of the names of those whose
ready and silvery tongue found no subjects more worthy
to be expatiated upon than those connected with Free-
masonry.

The third of this splendid trio is the faithful breast.
Of all societies, this has been the most distinguished for
the inviolable secrecy which its members have preserved.
Neither the thunders of the Vatican, nor the tortures of
the Inquisition, nor the fierce demands of a depraved
public opinion, have succeeded in extorting from the
faithful breast those things so solemnly deposited there.

HOPE. — We have in no author so .good a definition of
this emblem as that by the Apostle Paul, in his declara-
tion "that by two immutable things, in which it was im-
possible for God to lie, [referring to his promise and his
oath^\ we might have a strong consolation, who have fled
for refuge, to lay hold of the hope set before us, which
hope we have, as an anchor of the soul, both sure and
steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil."
The same eloquent writer in another passage declares:
"We are saved by hope; if we hope for that which we
see not, then do we with patience wait for it." The
Psalmist has declared, " Happy is he whose hope is in the

JACHIN AND BOAZ. 57

Lord his God." His son, the wise King, adds: "The
righteous hath hope in his death." The Prophet Joel
avers " the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the
strength of the children of Israel."

As we sit in our respective places in the Lodge, arid
look upon the open Word in the midst, we may deem
that there is a treasury of hopes contained in that book,
both for this world and that which is to come. The
dealings of God with his ancient people afford a sure
foundation that he who is unchangeable in justice, good-
ness, and mercy, can not fail to render to those who, by
patient continuance in well-doing, shall merit his favor,
all needed blessings. These are the inculcations of the
emblem of Hope.

JACHIN AND BOAZ. — It can not be doubted that the
most striking and attractive objects to a person approach-
ing the Temple up Mount Moriah were the brazen Pil-
lars upon the east. Whether to the stranger, who only
considered them as architectural ornaments, or to the in-
formed Israelite, who read in their names, dimensions,
cavities, and ornaments many of the most useful incul-
cations in his religious code, these Pillars were the first
to catch the eye and the last to fade upon the memory.
The height of these transcendent spires is variously given
at eighteen and thirty-five cubits : the latter is the more
likely, whether we estimate the due proportion between
the diameter four cubits, or the magnitude of the great
building before which they stood. Nothing less than
thirty-five cubits will answer the requirements of the
Fellow Craft's lecture, which sets the proportions between
the heights and diameters of pillars at seven, eight, nine,
ten, and ten for the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian,

£>8 THE FELLOW CRAFT.

and Composite Orders respectively. As the particular
order of architecture used in these Pillars is not given,
we can not designate the exact proportion applicable; but
to none of them will a height of eighteen cubits apply.

The names of these grand and awe-inspiring objects
are full of meaning to a Freemason. The right Pillar —
that is, the one on the south side of the door of entrance —
was called " Jachin;" literally, "He will establish." The
left Pillar — that is, the one on the north side of the door
of entrance — was called "Boaz;" literally, "In it is
power." Uniting the two definitions into one, the allu-
sion is to the Divine promise that in strength God would
perpetually establish the kingdom of Israel in the family
of David. This, in the Masonic system, implies the en-
durance and strength of our institution, which at the end
of its three thousand years of history stands more firmly
upon its basis than ever before.

The cavity and ornaments of the Pillars are equally
emblematical. Upon the chapiters were nets of checker-
work, wreaths of chain-work, seven upon each chapiter,
also lily-work, and two hundred pomegranates in rows,
upon each. To the instructed Israelite passing between
the Pillars, these symbols betokened the great lessons of
unity, peace, and plenty, and taught him that the spirit
of unity produces peace, and that the combination of
unity . and peace is divinely blessed to plenty. The
globes or pommels upon the chapiters, with their
proper scientific teachings, conveyed also the Masonic
meaning, expressed upon a previous page, that the
charities of Freemasons should be as boundless as the
spheres.

THE ANGLE OF 90°. — The application of the right

ENTRANCE TO THE CHAMBER. 59

angle to the center of the earth illustrates the sphere of
the Mason's duty and the restraints which he should
impose upon the inclinations of his heart, not to wander
beyond the angular limits of Masonic propriety. Upon
the Angle of 90° the Fellow Craft, metaphorically, is
tried, and happy he whose life and conduct shall bear so
rigid a test. A very small deviation from this angle,
though it may not be perceptible to man, is .distinctly so
to God, who is our Divine Master, and is to reward us
not merely according to the amount of our works, but
according to the accuracy with which they adapt them-
selves to the angle he has traced out for us. It may
be that the heathen and the uncultivated denizens of the
isles are not prescribed by an Angle so broad as that
which is presented to us. God is merciful, and will not
place upon any person more responsibilities than he has
moral strength to bear; but to us who, in addition to
the light of civilization, the Bible and Christianity have
the brilliancy of Freemasonry shining within our souls,
it is hard to see what excuse we can present our Heav-
enly Master in the Judgement-day for a ^deficiency in
the angular propriety of our lives. The Angle of 90° is
emphatically one of the working tools of our profession;
let us see that it is not less so of our practice.

THE SECOND SECTION.

THE Second Section of the Fellow Craft's Lecture
treats of the entrance into the Middle Chamber of the
Temple; the objects that attract the candidate's atten-
tion there; the duty of a reasonable observance of the
Sabbath-day; the numerous and valuable studies recom-

60 THE FELLOW CRAFT.

mended to his mind; the rich and ample wages secured
him for his labor, and the solemn reverence due from
Masons unto the name of God. Properly delivered, this
is the most dramatic and beautiful ceremony yet treated
upon in this volume. It fully justifies us in claiming
for this grade of Masonry that it particularizes circum-
stances of great importance to the Fraternity, and con-
firms many of our traditional tenets and customs by
sacred and profane record. There is a store of valuable
knowledge developed from this lecture, founded on
reason, tradition, and the Sacred Record, both enter-
taining and instructive.

OPERATIVE AND SPECULATIVE MASONRY. — The fre-
quent use in this volume of the terms " Operative " and
"Speculative" requires an explanation. To the mem-
bers of this institution was anciently given the erection
of all great edifices. The secrets of architecture were
then parts of the secrets of Freemasonry, and none could
undertake a temple, a palace, or other grand erection,
until he had passed the portals of the Masonic Lodge
and acquired the scientific knowledge there treasured
up. Then Operative and Speculative Masonry were
blended; those who built the actual temple also built
the moral one. But through the lapse of ages, the se-
crets of operative architecture have been given out to
the world, leaving only the mysteries of the moral build-
ing. Speculative Masonry, therefore, contemplates in
theory what the operative builder reduces to practice,
and the tools of the workmen are only used as emblems
in the construction of " the house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens." In this thought the following
lines are conceived :

THE SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK. 61

Darkly hid beneath the quarry,

Masons, many a true block lies ;
Hands must shape and hands must carry,
Ere the stone the Master prize.
Seek for it, measure it,
Fashion it, polish it,
Then the Overseer will prize.

What though shapeless, rough, and heavy,

Think ye God his work will lose ?
Raise the block, the strength he gave ye,
Fit it for the Master's use.
S-eek for it, measure it,
Fashion it, polish it,
Then the Overseer will use.

'T was for this our fathers banded;

Through life's quarries they did roam,
Faithful-hearted, skillful-handed,
Bearing many a true block home:
Noticing, measuring,
Fashioning, polishing,
For their glorious Temple-home.

THE SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK. — As the Creator
of all things has put it on record that he would have his
creatures give the seventh day of each week wholly to
him and his service, thus commemorating the great fact
of the creation, this has been adopted among the land-
marks of our institution. It is the oldest of all observ-
ances, this day being consecrated in the first division of
time after the creation. The Almighty Maker selected
it for his own period of refreshment and rest after the
completion of his labors, and we in like manner give
the hours to bodily rest and the refreshment of the soul.
No Lodge may lawfully meet to work upon the Sabbath-

62 THE FELLOW CRAFT.

day, and no brother give of its sacred time to his ordi-
nary pursuits.

The title given to the Jewish day of rest was "the
Sabbath;" it is from a Hebrew word signifying rest.
Since the Christian era, the day of rest is called the
Lord's Day, because it is now commemorative of Christ's
resurrection from the dead; and there is thus connected
with it an affectionate remembrance of the whole char-
acter and offices of Him to whose service and glory it
is to be devoted. Sunday was the name given by the
heathens to the first day of the week, because it was the
day on which they worshiped the sun, and this name,^
together with those of the other days of the week, has
been continued to our times.

The sanctification of one-seventh portion of time by
man is regarded throughout the whole of the Old Testa-
ment Scriptures as a fundamental principle of duty, and
no sin, except perhaps idolatry, is threatened with heavier
penalties than Sabbath-breaking.

The Divine commandment which stands the fourth in
the Decalogue, " Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it
holy," is founded on the fact that the seventh day was
blessed and hallowed by God himself, and that he re-
quires his creatures to keep it holy to him. This com-
mandment is of universal and perpetual obligation. The
object to be accomplished by the institution is general,
and applies to all people every-where with like force.
Wherever there is a human creature capable of contem-
plating the character of the Supreme Being, of studying
his revealed will, and of considering his own immortal
destiny, this commandment requires him to consecrate
at least one-seventh part of his time to these holy pur-

THREE, FIVE, AND SEVfiN. 63

poses. The terms of the commandment do not fix the
precise day in order, except that it is to be every seventh
day. Tn other words, it simply requires that after six
days of labor, one day is to be given to rest.

There is abundant evidence from history that the
seventh day of the week has been observed from the
earliest times as a day of rest; and the change from
the seventh to the first day does not in any degree
change or impair the obligation to sanctify a seventh
portion of our time. So far from it, the sacredness and
glory of the day are much increased by its association
with that great event on which our hope of life and im-
mortality entirely depends.

It seems to be admitted, by intelligent men of every
class and profession, that the observance of a wreekly
day of rest is as essential to our intellectual and physical
as to our moral and spiritual nature.

The simple rule as to the mode of observing the day
seems to be this: that there should be a cheerful resting
all the day' from such worldly employments and recrea-
tions as may be lawful on other days, and the spending
the whole time in the public or private worship of God,
except so much as may be occupied by works of neces-
sity or mercy. To test the propriety of any act or pur-
suit on that day, it is only needful to inquire whether
the doing of it will tend to advance us in holy exercises
and affection, and in preparation for the heavenly rest, or
whether it is an act of necessity which can not be post-
poned without serious injury.

THREE, FIVE, AND SEVEN. — Mystical numbers form
important parts in the symbolisms of Freemasonry. The
numbers three, five, and seven are the most suggestive

64 THE FELLOW CRAFT.

of these. Scriptural history shows how frequently they
were introduced in sacred events.

" There are three that bear record in heaven : the
Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three
are one." This passage expresses the whole theory of
the Masonic trinity. The three principal officers of the
Lodge, corresponding with the three original degrees in
Masonry, are examples of the uses to which this number
is applied.

The number five is not less suggestive in the Masonic
rituals. There are five orders in architecture that are
recognized among Freemasons: the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic,
Corinthian, and Composite, of which the three central
ones are most highly esteemed in speculative Masonry.
There are five senses in human nature : hearing, seeing,
touching, smelling, and tasting, of which the first three
are so highly estimated in the Masonic system, that no
person wrho has lost any one of them can lawfully be
made a Mason. Among the furniture of the sanctuary
and the temple, there were five golden candlesticks on
either side of the oracle.

The number seven has even more numerous allusions
in the rituals. There are seven liberal arts and sciences
inculcated in the Masonic system ; viz. : grammar, rhet-
oric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy,
of which the fifth, generally, is most highly estimated.
There are seven days in the wreek; the seventh year was
anciently directed to be a sabbath of rest for all things,
and the law was directed to be read to the people. A
person was commanded to forgive his offending brother
seven times, which our Savior extended to seventy
times seven. In the sacrificial service the blood was

THE EAR OF CORN. 65

sprinkled seven times before the altar. Solomon, in his
allegory of the house of wisdom, says that it has seven
pillars. Seven resurrections are enumerated in Scrip-
ture. The series of celestial worlds is said to consist
of seven, of which the highest is the most beatific. The
book of Revelations, the most symbolical series of writ-
ings extant, embodies nearly all its mysteries under the
number seven — as seven churches, seven golden candle-
sticks, seven stars, seven lamps representing the seven
spirits, the book with seven seals, the seven kings, seven
thunders, the dragon with seven heads and seven crowns,
seven angels bringing seven plagues, and seven vials of
wrath* In our lectures, perfection is likened to gold
seven times purified in the fire.

In the application of these numbers in the Fellow
Craft's ritual, lengthy and beautiful discourses upon the
Order in architecture and the seven liberal arts and
sciences are delivered, which, being found in the Mon-
itor, need no repetition here.

THE EAR OF CORN. — Much may be said of the ex-
pressiveness of this emblem, suspended, in all Well-ar-
ranged Lodges, over the Junior Warden's chair. As the
contiguity of a fall of water to a field of standing corn
gives vigor to the plant, so the graces of the Divine
Spirit give nourishment to the good man's piety, and
make it fruitful. The Scriptural light thrown upon this
emblem is that in the eleventh chapter of Judges. Fifty-
one years after the celebrated exploit of Gideon at the
well Harod, the Ammonites came out of their deserts
eastward, and invaded Palestine in great numbers. A
part of them came up into Gilead and encamped at
Aroer. Jephthah, whose residence was at Mizpeh, near
5 .

t)6 THE FELLOW CRAFT.

by, collected together an army from the surrounding
tribes, attacked the Ammonites, achieved a great victory,
and rescued twenty cities from their hands which they
had taken. By this heroic deed the country was rid of
its oppressors. On Jephthah's return home occurred
that pathetic tragedy which has made the name of Jeph-
thah's daughter immortal in prose and song.

Shortly afterward the Ephraitnites, whose tribe was
located on the opposite side of the river westward, taking
bitter offense at Jephthah for slighting them in his call
for soldiers, or, what is more likely, angry that they
were omitted in the distribution of the spoils, crossed the
river with a great army and threatened his destruction.
Jephthah was in no .whit intimidated, but at once recalled
his warriors from their homes, and defeated the Ephraim-
ites. Resolved to punish them for their unprovoked
assault, he sent portions of his army to the fords in
their rear, and intercepting them, slew all who attempted
to pass, to the number of forty-two thousand. This was
a blow which that haughty tribe never forgot.

As a measure for identifying the Ephraimites at the
fords, an ear of corn was hung upon a branch and each
traveler was requested to give its name. The proper
word in Hebrew for an ear of corn is " Shibboleth," so
pronounced in the pure language. But the Ephraimites,
having a patois of their own, were unable thus to express
the first syllable. They called it "Sibboleth," just as
the Arabs pronounce the same word to the present day.
Their defect of utterance was fatal to them, for every
man who thus named the ear of corn was summarily
dispatched.

In relation to this singular transaction, which in the

THE LETTER G. 67

vituals of the Fellow Craft plays a prominent part, a
celebrated English writer of the last century says: "The
application which is made of certain words among Ma-
sons is as a testimony of their retaining their original
one uninfringed, and their first faith with the brother-
hood uncorrupted. And to render their words and
phrases more abstruse and secure, they selected such as
by acceptation in the Scriptures or otherwise might puz-
zle the ignorant by a double implication. Thus, ' Shib-
boleth/ should we have adopted the Eleusonian mys-
teries, would answer as an avowal of our profession, the
word implying * ears of corn.3 But taking its deriva-
tive from the Greek tongue, it is equivalent to ' Colo
lapidem/ implying that we retain and keep inviolate our
obligations as the 'Jurimentum per jovem lapidem/
the most obligatory oath held among the heathens."

THE LETTER G. — A brother entering the Lodge while
at work, has his attention turned first to the emblems
upon the Altar, of which one is the immortal Word of
God, and next to an object suspended over the Master's
Chair, an emblem of the letter G. This is the initial let-
ter of the name of Deity, that Being before whom Ma-
sons of every degree bow and adore. The full bearing
of this emblem is conveyed in the following lines :

That Name ! I heard it at my mother's knee,
When looking up, the dear, remembered face

Beaming on mine, so fond, so tenderly,

She prayed that GOD her little son would bless.

That Name! I spoke it when I entered here,
And bowed the knee, as man in worship must;

From my heart's center, with sincerity,
I cried aloud, "In GOD is all my trust."

68 THE 'FELLOW CRAFT.

That Name! I saw it o'er the Master's chair.

The "Hieroglyphic bright," and bending low,
Paid solemn homage to the symbol there

That speaks of GOD, before whom all should bow.

That Name! I whispered at the Altar here,

When dangers thickened, and when death was nigh;

In solemn silence, and with soul sincere,
I prayed, " 0 GOD be with me, if I die ! "

That Name ! the last upon my faltering tongue,
Ere death shall seal it, it shall surely be ;

The pass-word to the bright, angelic throng,
Whose GOD is GOD to all eternity.

That Name then, brothers, ever gently speak,
Above all father's, mother's name, revered ;

What bounties from His gracious hand we take !
0, be His honor to our s6uls endeared.

CORN, WINE, AND OIL. — The bounties of our Heavenly
Father have supplied us, while we sojourn below,. with
all necessary comforts of food, shelter, and clothing.
The earth abundantly yields them to the industrious
laborer; from our mother's breast we pass to the yield-
ing sources of the soil. The emblem of corn, implying
all the nutritious fruits of the earth ; the emblem of wine,
implying all that nature affords to gladden the heart,
and the emblem of oz7, which to Oriental nations is quite
as important as the others, represent nature's bounties,
the wages of practical labor. King Solomon stipulated
to pay the Temple-builders, for their service, " twenty
thousand measures of beaten wheat and twenty thousand
measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine
and twenty thousand baths of oil." Thus bo.untifullj
did that large-hearted monarch provide for those \vh«

THE PERFECT ASHLARS. 69

should do him service in his erections for God. Shall
we not have as bountiful returns for our labor ? Toiling
in the nobler system of architecture, the building up of
the 4iuman soul, and laboring under the supervision of
the Supreme Architect of the Universe, let us not doubt
the liberality of our Master or the certainty of ample
reward. Plenty, health, and peace wait upon them that
do the works of God.

THE PERFECT ASHLARS. — The spirit of this whole sec-
tion is conveyed in the following lines :

The sunbeams from the eastern sky
Flash from yon blocks exalted high,

And on their polished fronts proclaim
The framer and the. builder's fame.

Glowing beneath the fervid noon,
Yon marble dares the southern sun;

Yet tells that wall of fervid flame,
The framer and the builder's fame.

The chastened sun adown the west,

Speaks the same voice and sinks to rest;

No sad defect, no flaw to shame
The framer and the builder's fame.

Beneath the dewy night, the sky

Lights up ten thousand lamps on high;

Ten thousand lamps unite to name
The framer and the builder's fame.

Perfect in line, exact in square,

These Ashlars of the Craftsmen are;

They will to comvng time proclaim
The framer and the builder's fame.

70 THE PERFECT ASHLARS.

The best specimen of a Perfect Ashlar presented in
the Masonic ranks, in this country, is George Washing-
ton. He was indeed a paragon in Freemasonry, an ex-
emplar of its virtues and its graces. There is no degree
of, moral improvement suggested by Masonic teachings-
to which he did not aspire, and few to which he had not
attained. His life as a citizen, a statesman, and a pa-
triot, the wbrld has by heart; his career as a Freemason
is not less wrorthy of admiration and respect. In the
pressure of a long and doubtful war, when his faculties
were concentrated in the never-ceasing details of com-
mand, he was ever ready to turn his thoughts to the
claims of a distressed, worthy brother, prompt to attend
Lodge meetings, happy to .respond to Masonic cour-
tesies.

The bust or portrait of Washington should be placed
conspicuously in every Lodge-room. Not only should
we become familiar with those majestic features at our
dwellings, but, in conjunction, with the emblems of the
Lodge, they should appear the brightest and most sig-
nificant emblem of them all.

THE MASTER MASON.

0 DEATH, thy hand is weighty on the breast

Of him who lies within thy grasp !
No power can raise the captive from his rest

Whom thy strong hand doth clasp.

The tears of broken hearts do fall in vain :
Their sighs are wasted o'er the grave;

Thou laugh'st to scorn the solemn funeral strain,
For there is none to save.

From age to age, mankind hath owned thy sway-
Submissive bowed beneath thy hand;

The hoary head, the infant of a day,
The loveliest of the band.

And thou hast struck the true and faithful now,

The model of Masonic faith ;
It was a cruel and a dastard blow,

0 stern, unyielding death!

Yet, boastful monster, ye shall have release,

Thy weighty hand, relentless power,
Shall be withdrawn, and all thy mockings cease,

And all thy triumphs o'er.

The Lion of the Tribe of Judah comes —

See in the heavenly east the sign !
To rend the sepulchers, disclose the tombs,

And place thee, monster, in 1

THE MASTER MASON.

THE FIRST SECTION.

THE THEORY OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER
MASON.

THE Degree of Master Mason is suggestive of gov-
ernment over men. The Apprentice and the Fellow
Craft draw the materials from quarry and forest, shape
them, remove them to the places designed for them, and
raise them to the wall: this is physical labor. All this
requires a designing head, a draughtsman, and a superin-
tendent, and this is the Master Mason. The same ne-
cessity exists in Speculative or Moral Masonry.

To the Master Mason were intrusted the secrets of
architecture, plans, measurements, and estimates, the
weight, tenacity, and durability of materials, and all that
learning needful to transform rude stones and the trunks
of trees into edifices that should be the wonder and de-
light of the earth. With such transcendent privileges
there was coupled a heavy burden of covenants, and he
was expected to exemplify before his fellow-laborers
every virtue and grace symbolized on the Trestle-Board
of the Master Builder.
(73)

74 THE MASTER MASON.

A late writer has elegantly said : We have seen the
type of man complete in moral worth and intellectual
culture. What more is left? Communion with ^ his
Maker. The mere knowledge of Deity is that of our
august Creator, whom we are to reverence and in whom
alone we are to put our trust. But we have not yet
seen Him walking upon the earth and holding open com-
munion with the sons of men. Man has not been enno-
bled by personal contact with the All-Holy. Let us
suppose three brethren, types respectively of moral, in-
tellectual, and physical perfection, joined together in
holy fellowship, which should make their very souls as
one, might they not in mystic union call upon the great
and sacred name of Deity and receive an answer to their
prayer ? That such an idea did prevail, we have suffi-
cient proof, and it is to this, rather than to any mere
utilitarian views, that we are to look for the rule which,
in a purely speculative institution, so sternly demands
physical as well as moral and intellectual integrity.

The Degree of Master Mason is a type of the com-
munion of man with God. Long before the incarnation
of that great Being was the hope entertained of seeing
Him with mortal eyes, and no exertions were deemed
too great to insure that consummation. With us these
ideas are but a type, for we have that realization so
longed for by the brethren of old. And yet, as a
type, how interesting it is to look back upon their
struggles to look forward into what is now so bright
and clear !

We now find man complete in morality and intelli-
gence, with the story of religion added, to insure him of
the protection of the Deity, and guard him against ever

THE COMPASS. 75

going astray. These three degrees thus form a perfect
and harmonious whole.

THE COMPASS. — The use of the Compass, whose beau-
tiful allegory was explained in a preceding grade, is
peculiarly adapted to the present Degree. Within its
extreme points, when properly extended, are found the
grand principles of Friendship, Morality, and Brotherly
Love. No subject can more properly engage the atten-
tion than the humane and generous feelings planted by
nature in the human breast. Friendship is traced
through the circle of private connections to the grand
system of universal philanthropy, but the Brotherly
Love so well known to the Masonic family is one of the
purest emanations of earthly friendship. A community
of sentiment and feeling creates a community of interest,
cultivated and cherished by every brother.

Morality is practical virtue, of which so much is said
in the preceding degrees. It is the journey of Wisdom,
pursuing and disseminating happiness. It is no cold
speculation, but a living principle. Saint John, himself
one of the purest exemplars of these three virtues, has
left it on record, that if a man say, I love God, and
hateth his brother, lie is a liar; for he that loveth not
his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God,
whom he hath not seen? Beloved, if God so loved us,
«ve ought also to love one another; and this command-
ment have we from Him, That he who loveth God, love
his brother also. So sings the Masonic lyrist :

By one God created, by one Savior saved,
By one Spirit lighted, with one mark engraved,
We learn through the wisdom our spirits approve,
To cherish the spirit of Brotherly Love.

76 THE MASTER MASON.

In the land of the stranger we Masons abide,
In forest, in quarry, on Lebanon's side;
Yon Temple we build it, its plan 's from above,
And we labor supported by Brotherly Love.

Though the service be hard, and the wages be scant,
If the Master accept it, our hearts are content;
The prize that we toil for, we '11 have it above,
When the Temple's completed, in Brotherly Love.

Yes, yes, though the week may be long, it will end;
Though the Temple be lofty, the key-stone will stand;
And the Sabbath, blest day, every thought will remove,
Save the memory fraternal of Brotherly Love.

THE ALTAR. — The sacrifices made upon the Masonic
Altar are the bloodless offerings of the soul. David
describes them when he says, "The sacrifices of God
are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, 0
God, thou wilt not despise." These may be individual-
ized as sacrifices of our own will, of feelings of contempt,
anger, and hatred; of tale-bearing and indiscretion; of
selfishness and the indulgence of our passions. Such
are the offerings made upon the open Law and in front
of the emblem of the letter G.

Friendship, on wing etherial flying round,
Stretches her arm to bless the hallowed ground;
Humanity, well pleased, here takes her stand,
Holding her daughter, Pity, by the hand;
Here Charity, which soothed the widow's sigh,
And wipes the dew-drop from the orphan's eye;
Here stands Benevolence, whose large embrace
Uncircumscribed takes in the human race;
She sees each narrow tie, each private end,
Indignant, Virtue's universal friend;
Scorning each frantic zealot, bigot tool,
She stamps on Masons' breasts her Golden Rule.

THE TROWEL. 77

THE TROWEL. — The Master Mason is not restricted to
a single implement, or set of implements, for his mystic
work; but the most appropriate tool in his department
is the Trowel — the emblem of peace — used to spread the
cement of brotherly love and affection ; that cement
which unites us into one sacred band or society of
friends and brothers, amongst whom no contention
should ever exist save that noble contention, or rather
emulation, of who best can work and best agree. The
parts of a building can not be united without proper ce-
ment; no more can the social compact be maintained
without the binding influence of love.

CHARITY. — So much has been said in other pages of
this volume upon Charity, or more properly Love, that
it would be superfluous to enlarge further upon this sub-
ject. No one has so clearly defined it as the Apostle
who so thoroughly experienced it, the Evangelist John.
His soul was filled with this divine emanation when he
wrote, "He that loveth his brother abideth in the light,
and there is none occasion of stumbling in him." "We
know that we have passed from death unto life, because
we love the brethren." "Let us not love in word,
neither in tongue, but in deed and truth." "Brethren,
let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one
that loveth is born of God and honoreth God. He that
loveth not, honoreth not God, for God is love." "Breth-
ren, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one
another."

Under the term " Charity," the Apostle Paul, in a
masterly summing-up of the subject, writes: "Though I
speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and though
I have the gift of prophesy, and understand all mysteries

78 THE MASTER MASON.

and all knowledge, and though I bestow all iny goods to
feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,
and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. And now
abideth Faith, Hope, Charity, these three ; but the great-
est of these is Charity."

PRAYER. — The posture of bended knees is often al-
luded to in Scripture. Solomon kneeled down upon his
knees before the congregation of Israel, and spread forth
his hands toward heaven. Ezra says, "I fell on my
knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God."
Daniel kneeled on his knees three times a day and
prayed. Paul says, "I bow my knees unto the Father."

As an appropriate form of Lodge prayer, in wrhich
Masons of all persuasions can unite without compromise
of religious principle, the one entitled the Lord's Prayer
is the most perfect: "Our Father which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will
be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day
our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we for-
give our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the
power, and the glory, forever. Amen."

THE FOUNDATION-STONE.

When the Spirit came to Jephthah,

Animating his great heart,
He arose, put on his armor,

Girt his loins about to part;
Bowed the knee, implored a blessing,

Gave an earnest of his faith,
Then, divinely-strung, departed,

Set for victory or death.

THE FIVE POINTS OF FELLOWSHIP. 79

If a rude, uncultured soldier

Thus dre\v wisdom from above,
How should we, enlightened laborers,

Children of the Sire of Love —
How should we, who know " the wisdom,

Gentle, pure, and peaceable,"
Make a prayerful preparation,

That our work be square and full !

Lo, the future! One can read it!

He its darkest chance can bend.
Lo, our wants ! how great, how many !

He abundant means can lend.
Kaise your hearts, then, laborers, boldly,

Build and journey in his trust;
Square your deeds by precepts holy,

And the end is surely blest.

Vainly will the Builders labor

If the Overseer is gone ; .
Vainly gate and wall are guarded

If the All-seeing is withdrawn:
Only is successful ending

When the work's begun with care;
Lay your blocks, then, laborers, strongly,

On the Eternal Rock of Prayer!

THE SECOND SECTION.

THE Second Section is devoted to that combination of
duties implied under the figure of " The Five Points of
Fellowship ; " likewise to the most expressive arrangement
of Masonic emblems, " The Broken Column." These two
subjects, inserted in the the center of the Master's lecture,
form in truth the very heart of the matter, and no Mason
can be esteemed well instructed who does not familiarize

80 THE MASTER MASON.

himself with them. This section recites the historical
tradition of the Order, and presents to view a picture of
great moral sublimity. It recites the legend, the symbol-
ical interpretation of which testifies our faith in the resur-
rection of the body and the immortality of the soul; while
it also exemplifies an instance of integrity and firmness
seldom equaled, and never surpassed.

THE FIVE POINTS OF FELLOWSHIP. — The. old records
succinctly declare that the Master Mason should not
withdraw his hand from a sinking brother; that his foot
should never halt in the pursuit of duty ; that his prayers
should unceasingly ascend for the distressed; that his
faithful heart should equally conceal the secrets and the
faults of a brother.; and that approaching evil should be
averted by a friendly admonition. The same thought is
more elaborately conveyed in the following, from an
author of the last generation :

I. When the necessities of a brother call for my aid
and support, I will be ever ready to lend him such assist-
ance, to save him from sinking, as may not be detrimental
to myself or connection, if I find him worthy thereof.

II. Indolence shall not cause my footsteps to halt nor
wrath turn them aside ; but, forgetting every selfish con-
sideration, I will be swift of foot to serve, help, and ex-
ecute benevolence to a fellow-creature in distress, and
more particularly to a brother Mason.

III. When I offer up my ejaculations to Almighty
God, I will remember a brother's welfare as my own ;
for as the voice of babes and sucklings ascends to the
Throne of Grace, so most assuredly will the breathings
of a fervent heart arise to the mansions of bliss, as our
prayers are certainly required of one another.

THE FIVE POINTS OF FELLOWSHIP. 81

IV. A brother's secrets, delivered to me as such, I will
keep as I would my own ; as betraying that trust might
be doing him the greatest injury he could sustain in this
mortal life. Nay, it would be like the villainy of an as-
sassin who lurks in darkness to stab his adversary when
unarmed and least prepared to meet an enemy.

V. A brother's character I will support in his absence
as I would in his presence. I will not wrongfully revile
him myself, nor will I suffer it to be done by others, if
in my power to prevent it. Thus by the Five Points
of Fellowship are we linked together in an indivisible
chain of sincere affection, brotherly love, relief, and
truth.

Another and even more beautiful comment upon the
Five Points of Fellowship is the following :

I. When the calamities of our brother call for our aid,
we should not withdraw the hand that might sustain
him from sinking, but should render him those services
which, while they do not encumber or injure our families
or fortunes, charity and religion may dictate for the sav-
ing of our fellow-creature.

II. From which purpose indolence should not persuade
the foot to halt, or wrath turn our steps out of the way;
but, forgetting injuries and selfish feelings, and remember-
ing that man was born for the aid of his generation and
not for his own enjoyments only, but to do that which
is good, we should be swift to have mercy, to save, to
strengthen, and 'execute benevolence.

III. As the good things of this life are partially dis-
pensed, and some persons are opulent while others are
in distress, such principles always enjoin a Mason, be he
ever so poor, to testify his good-will toward his brother.

6

82 THE MASTER MASON,

Riches alone do not allow the means of doing good.
Virtue and benevolence are not confined to the walls of
opulence. The rich man from his many talents is re-
quired to make extensive works, under the principles of
virtue. And yet poverty is no excuse for an omission
of that exercise; for, as the cry of innocence .ascendeth
up to heaven, as the voice of babes and sucklings reaches
the throne of God, and as the breathings of a contrite
heart are heard in heaven, so a Mason's prayers for the
welfare of his brother are required of him.

IV. The fourth principle is, never, to injure the -con-
fidence of your brother by revealing his secrets, for
perhaps that were to rob him of the guard that pro-
tects bis property or his life. The tongue of a Mason
should be without guile and void of offense, speaking
truth with discretion, and keeping itself within the rule
of judgment, maintaining a "heart free of uncharitable-
ness, locking up secrets, and communing in charity and
love.

V. As much is required of a Mason in the way of
gifts as discretion may limit. Charity begins at home,
but, like a fruitful olive-tree planted by the side of a
fountain whose boughs overshoot the wall, so is charity.
It spreads its arms abroad from the strength and opu-
lence of its station, and lendeth its shade for the repose
and relief of those who are gathered under its branches.
Charity, when given with imprudence, is no longer a vir-
tue; but when flowing from abundance, it is glorious as
the beama of morning, in whose beauty thousands rejoice.
When donations extorted by piety are detrimental to a
man's family, they become sacrifices to superstition, and,
like incense to idols, are disapproved by Heaven.

THE BUOKEN COLUMN. 83

THE BROKEN COLUMN. — The Broken Column support-
ing the volume of Divine inspiration; a virgin, of match-
less beauty, weeping, supporting in her left hand a
funeral urn, commemorative of the departed, and in her
right hand a sprig of evergreen ; Time, the great leveler
and restorer, entwining her disheveled locks in his
fingers — this is the array of symbols now presented to
the admiring eyes of the candidate. They are calculated
to awaken every sentiment of respect, veneration, and
fraternal tenderness on the one hand, and on the other
to remind us, that although time may lay all earthly
grandeur in ruins and deface the loveliness of all terres-
trial beauty, yet there is imperishable grandeur joined
to unfading beauty and eternal happiness in the world
beyond the grave.

'T is done — the dark decree is said,

That called our friend away ;
Submissive bow the sorrowing head,

And bend the lowly knee.
We will not ask why God has broke

Our Pillar from its stone,
But humbly yield us to the stroke,

And say " His will be done."

At last the weary head has sought

In earth its long repose;
And weeping freres have hither brought

Their chieftain to his close.
We held his hand, we filled his heart,

While heart and hand could move,
Nor will we from his grave depart

But with the rites of love.

This grave shall be a garner, where
We'll heap our golden corn;

84 THE MASTER MASON.

And here, in heart, we '11 oft repair,

To think of him that's gone;
To speak of all he did and said,

That's wise, and good, and pure,
And covenant o'er the hopeful dead,

In vows that will endure.

0 Brother, bright and loving frere,

0 spirit free and pure,
Breathe us one gush of spirit #ir,

From off the Heavenly shore ;
And say, when these hard toils are done,

And the Grand Master calls,
Is there for every weary one

Place in the heavenly halls!

THE UNFINISHED TEMPLE. — The Temple of Masonry
is ever in course of construction, ever unfinished. Into
its walls successive generations of the wise and good are
built ; and while time lasts, and the end of all things is
delayed, the moral structure is incomplete. But we
need not fear its walls will crumble, or that the work
will ever cease. The other societies of this world, em-
pires, kingdoms, and commonwealths, being of less per-
fect constitutions, have been of less permanent duration.
Although men have busied themselves through all ages
in forming and reforming them, in casting down and
building up, yet still their labors have been vain. The
reason was — hear it and be wise, ye builders of the pres-
ent day ! — tliey daubed with uniempered mortar ; they ad-
mitted into their structures the base, discordant, hetero-
geneous materials of pride, ambition, selfishness, malice,
guile, hypocrisies, envious and evil speaking, which Free-
masonry rejects. Hence their fabrics, unable to sup-
port themselves, tumbled to the foundation through

THE UNFINISHED TEMPLE. 85

inherent weakness, or were shaken to pieces by external
violence.

The Egyptian, the Babylonian, the Assyrian, the Per-
sian Empires, the commonwealths of Athens, Sparta,
and Rome, with many more of later date, where are
they now? "Fallen, fallen, fallen," the weeping voice
of history replies. The meteors of our age, the gaze of
the world, they rose, they blazed awhile on high, they
burst and sunk beneath the horizon, to that place of
oblivion where the pale ghosts of departed grandeur fly
about in sad lamentations for their former glory.

Such have been the changes and revolutions which, as
a Fraternity, we have seen. From the bosom of the
Lodge, seated upon an eminence, its foundations reach-
ing the center and its summits the sky, we have beheld,
as upon a turbulent ocean at an immense distance be-
neath us, the states of this world alternately mounted
up and cast down, as they have regarded or neglected
the principles described above, while, supported by them,
the sublime fabric of our constitution has remained un-
shaken through ages. And thug supported it shall remain
while the sun opens the day to gild its cloud-capped
towers, or the moon leads in the night to checker its
starry canopy. The current of things may roll along
its basis, the tide of chance and time may beat against
its walls, the stormy gusts of malice may assault its
lofty battlements, and the heavy rains of calumny may
descend upon its spacious roof, but all in vain. A
building thus constructed and supported is impregnable
from without, and can then only be dissolved when the
pillars of the universe shall be shaken, and " the great
globe itself, yea, all which we inherit, shall, like the

86 THE MASTER MASON.

baseless fabric of a vision," pass away at the fiat of the
Master Architect.

MONODY OF THE GRAND MASTER.

DEAD! and where now those earnest, loving eyes,
Which kindled in so many eyes the light?

Have they departed from our earthly skies,
And left no rays to illuminate the night ?

Dead! and where now that hand of sympathy

That welled, and yearned, and with true love o'erflowed?

0 heart of love, is the rich treasure" dry ?

Forever sealed what once such gifts bestowed ?

Dead! and where now that generous, nervous hand,
That thrilled each nerve within its generous clasp?

Will it no more enlink the Mystic band,

Hallowing and strengthening all within its grasp ?

Heart, eyes, and hand to dust are all consigned ;

It was his lot, for he was born of earth :
But the rich treasures of his Master-mind

Abide in heaven, for there they had their birth.

Abide in heaven ! 0, the enkindling trust!

The record of his deeds remaineth here:
The Acacia blooms beside his silent dust,

And points unerringly the brighter sphere.

Then, though the Shattered Column mark his fate,
And Weeping Virgin weep the Unfinished Fane.

Not altogether are we desolate :

For 0, beloved Friend, we meet again 1

WISDOM, STRENGTH, AND "BEAUTY, 8

THE THIRD SECTION.

THIS Section is chiefly devoted to the explanation of
the hieroglyphical emblems peculiar to this Degree. As
usually given, it presents many useful particulars rela-
tive to King Solomon's Temple, a portion of which, in
the present volume, are, for convenience sake, transferred
to other pages. In the richness of its imagery, this
Section resembles the Third Section of the Degree of
Entered Apprentice.

WISDOM, STRENGTH, AND BEAUTY. — The emblem of
the three Pillars in this section alludes to the three im-
mortal artists who contrived, strengthened, and adorned
the sacred Fane. Solomon, King of Israel, first in wis-
dom, in wealth, in favor with God and man, stands as
the Pillar of Wisdom. " His wisdom excelled/' says the
inspired historian, "the wisdom of all the children of the
east country and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was
wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and He-
man and Chalcor and Darda, the sons of Mahal. He
spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were a
thousand and five, and he spoke of trees from the cedar
tree, that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that
springeth out of the wall ; he spoke also of beasts and
of fowls and of creeping things and of fishes." This is
all summed up in this passage: "God gave Solomon
wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and large-
ness of heart even as the sand that is upon the sea-
shore." This was our Pillar of Wisdom.

Our Pillar of Strength was Hiram, King of Phoenicia,
a nation of architects and mariners, whose furnishing of
skillful builders and choice materials gave to King Solo-
mon all the support necessary for his undertaking.

88 THE MASTER MASON.

Our Pillar of Beauty was Hiram Abiff, whose singular
proficiency in all the works of the goldsmith, the brass-
founder, the dyer and weaver, the lapidary and the jew-
eler, gave the desired impetus to the adorning of the
edifice.

THE COLUMNS AND PILASTERS. — Our monitorial in-
structor gives the due number of these outward parts of
the edifice, by which the visitor from foreign nations,
who was not permitted to approach the Temple nearer
than the outer courts, could form an idea of the magni-
tude and splendor of the interior. Of columns proper
there were 1,453; of pilasters, 2,906. Upon other pages
of this volume a description of the porch and the courts
is given, from which we deduce the necessity of so many
columns and pilasters in the building.

In the same connection, the lectures of the Master's
Degree compute the numbers of the workmen as follows :
Grand Masters, 3; Masters, or overseers of the work,
3,300 ; Fellow Crafts, 80,000 ; Entered Apprentices, or
bearers of burdens, 70,000. These were all classed and
arranged by the wisdom of Solomon, that neither envy,
discord, nor confusion were suffered to interrupt that
universal peace and tranquillity which pervaded the world
at this important period. The materials that made up
this band were the virtuous and laborious ; its master-
builders the Enochs, the Noahs, the Abrahams, the
Moses, the Joshuas of the age. There was not a signal
connected with it which did not point either to man's
extremity or to God's opportunity ; not a grip which did
not speak of human relations demanding human sympa-
thies ; not a word that did not tell of power, permanency,
or wisdom as the result of active, thorough devotion;

LODGE COMBINATIONS. 89

fot a ceremony which was not full of instruction upon
(ie great divisions of human knowledge.

LODGE COMBINATIONS. — The number of members es-
sential to the legal opening and working of a Lodge of
Entered Apprentices is seven or more, of whom one at
east must be a Master Mason.

Where two or three assemble round

In work the Lord approves,
His spirit with the grasp is found,

For 'tis the place he loves:
Be now all hearts to friendship given,
For we, the Sons of Light, are seven.

The number of members essential to the legal open-
ing and working of a Lodge of Fellow Crafts is five or
more, of whom, at least, two must be Master Masons,
the other three being Fellow Crafts.

This Lodge of Five from Tyre came,
Their leader one of matchless fame;
All through the toiling seasons seven,
Their time upon this work was given.

The number of members essential to the legal opening
md working of a Lodge of Master Masons is three or

lore, all of that Degree. A Lodge attempting to op-
*rate in violation of these landmarks, breaks the unity
if the sacred numbers three, five, and seven; the Mas-

3r who permits it violates in an especial manner his
*wn covenants, and the Lodge so offending forfeits the
Jharter or Warrant under which it works, and which in
-tself embodies an injunction to adhere to the ancient
:*mdrnarks.

THE THREE STEPS. — This is an emblem recalling the

90 THE MASTER MASON.

various illustrations of the number Three, and this addi-
tional one, that human life has three principal stages — -
youth, man-hood, and old age. The first is symbolical
of the Entered Apprentice, as suggested under the head
of " Theory of the First Degree," on a preceding page.
Masons of that grade are therefore exhorted indus-
triously to occupy their minds in the attainment of use-
ful knowledge. The second step is beautifully emblem-
atical of the Fellow Craft, who is exhorted in the lectures
of his Degree to apply the knowledge which he acquired
as an Entered Apprentice to the discharge of his re-
spective duties to God, "his neighbor, and himself. The
third step is emblematical of the Master Mason, who, in
the enjoyment of those happy reflections consequent
upon a well-spent life, prepares his mind for a blissful
hereafter.

Corresponding with this emblem the being of man has
three periods — time, death, and eternity. Upon one of
these steps every member of our widely-spread Order is
now standing. He who writes this and he who reads it
stands upon the first; but who can anticipate the period
of his stay? Upon the second hundreds are standing,
gasping, tottering, perhaps dreading the illimitable pro-
found that opens before thorn, while in the unknown ex-
istence of the third is the great mass of those who, like
ourselves, have

"Met upon the Level, to part upon the Square."

THE POT OF INCENSE. — This is an emblem of a pure
heart, and as such is peculiarly expressive. There is a
state of perfection at which the good man may arrive
by the influence of vital religion, and such is typified by

THE BEE-HIVE. 91

this emblem. A pure heart perpetually ascends in per-
fumes of gratitude, like the cloud of celestial white that
filled the Temple, and like the heaven-descended flame
that burned day and night within the sanctum sanctorum.
Such is the offering of prayer, the most acceptable in-
cense the human heart can raise.

Incense for the service of the Sanctuary was ordered
to be made of frankincense and other gums and spices,
the materials and manufacture of which are particularly
described in the Divine Law. It was the business of the
priest to offer it up, morning and evening, upon an altar
especially erected for this purpose, and this was called
the Altar of Incense. The preparation of it for common
use was positively forbidden; neither could any other
composition be offered as incense upon this altar, nor
could this be offered by any but the priest. The Incense
approved by God under the present dispensation is more
fragrant, more costly, and more acceptable than the rich-
est gums of Arabia. The service and the time of offer-
ing is in the option of every man. Whenever a Freema-
son looks upon the emblem, he should be reminded to
make at least one ejaculation of thanksgiving, praise, or
confession to Him who ever heareth.

THE BEE-HIVE.- — This emblem of industry has pecu-
liar meaning to the members of a society based upon a
working model. The slothful inactivity of the rational
drone is severely reproved by it. The industrious bee
rises early to the labors of the summer day, gathering
from the variegated carpet of nature an aniple supply of
food for the winter of his year. Man, in imitation of this
example, might enjoy all the necessaries and even the
luxuries of life, while he would avoid vice and temptation

92 THE MASTER MASON.

and merit the respect of mankind. On the contrary,
idleness is. the parent of poverty and immorality. Such
are the lessons taught by all the working tools — the
Gauge and Gavel, the Square, Level and Plumb, and the
Trowel — of the Craft. Every day of the six properly
devoted to labor should be so divided that while a share
may be given to works of charity and devotion, and a
share to refreshment and sleep, one measured part may
be given to the avocations of life, those callings upon
which the interests of society depend.

The proverbs of the wise king abound in rebukes upon
indolence and admonition to industry: "Go to the ant,
thou sluggard: consider her ways and be wise; which
provided her meat in the summer and gathereth her food
in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, 0 sluggard?
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the
hands to sleep : so shall thy poverty come as one that
traveleth, and thy want as an armed man."

THE BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS GUARDED BY THE TYLER'S
SWORD. — So much has been said in this volume upon the
importance of secrecy as a Masonic virtue, that the ap-
plication of this emblem will be easy. The Book of Con-
stitutions, as an emblem, represents all the instruction,
esoteric and exoteric, connected with the Masonic ritual.
The Tyler of the Lodge, whose emblem, badge, and im-,
plement are the Sword, is the guardian of those assem-
blages held for the purpose of lawfully communicating
the secrets of Masonry. Thus the Sword guarding the
Book recalls to the memory of the initiate all the instruc-
tions communicated to him upon this subject. This em-
blem will convince the Mason of the policy of preserving

THE SWORD POINTING TO THE NAKED HEART 93

inviolably the important secrets which are committed to
his breast.

Various passages from the Holy Scriptures are ap-
pended to enforce these lessons: "Be ye afraid of the
sword, for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword
that ye may know there is a judgment." "Even a fool
when he holdeth his peace is counted wise, and he that
shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding."
"Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his
soul from troubles. As he that bindeth a stone in a
sling, so is he that giveth honor to a fool." "Discretion
shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee." It
will be observed, however, that with us the Sword is but
a symbol. There is no punishment in Masonry for the
highest crimes, beyond expulsion from the Order.

THE SWORD POINTING TO THE NAKED HEART. — This
emblem is the complement of the last. The punishments
of Masonry, at the greatest, are but exclusion from the
Order. But although Mercy delays the descending
stroke of Justice, there is a day appointed in which
Justice will be amply avenged, unless Mercy shall secure
us in the ark of her retreat. The sword of Almighty
vengeance is drawn to reward iniquity, and pointed
steadily toward the sinful heart. Were it not for this
belief in retributive justice, how painful would be our
observations of human life! All history is full of in-
stances of the tyranny of the strong over the weak.
How much sin against God and humanity is done privily,
of which there is no disclosure in this life ! Yet there
is a righteous God, and He does not look upon these
things without abhorrence. His Law declares : " The

U4 THE MASTER MA SOX.

ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in
the congregation of the righteous." "If I speak of
strength, lo, he is strong; and if of judgment, who shall
set me a time to plead? for he is not a man as I am,
that I should consider him. I will say untp God, do
not condemn me/'

These are the lessons taught by this emblem. As
surely as Masonry encourages us to hope for a reward
to the righteous in the world to come, so certainly does
it inculcate the doctrine that there is a punishment there
for the evil-doer.

THE ALL-SEEING EYE. — This emblem implies that all
the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and
he pondereth all his goings; that the eyes of the Lord
are in every place beholding the evil and the good, and
especially upon them that fear him and hope in his
mercy.

There is an Eye through blackest night

A vigil ever keeps;
A vision of unerring light
O'er lowly vale and giddy height —

The Eye that never sleeps.

Midst poverty and sickness lain

The lowly sufferer weeps;
What marks the face convulsed with pain ?
What marks the softened look again?

The Eye that never sleeps.

Above the far meridian sun,

Below profoundest deeps,
Where dewy day his course begun,
Where scarlet marks his labor done —

The Eye that never sleeps.

THE ANCHOR AND THE ARK. 95

No limit bounds the Eternal sight,

No misty cloud o'ersweeps;
The depths of hell confess the light,
Eternity itself is bright —

The Eye that never sleeps.

Then rest we calm, though round our head

The life-storm fiercely sweeps ;
What fear is in the blast? What dread
To us has death? an Eye's o'erhead —

The Eye that never sleeps.

THE ANCHOR AND THE ARK. — Under the emblem of
Hope, on a previous page, we explained the manner- in
which this first of the three theological virtues is incul-
cated to Freemasons. The Ark, an emblem of that
which survived the flood, reminds us of that ark of
safety which will waft us securely over this sea of
troubles; and when arrived in a celestial harbor, the an-
chor of a well-grounded hope will moor us forever to
that peaceful shore " where the wicked cease from troub-
ling and the weary are at rest." This grace is equally
important and pleasing in this world of uncertainty and
change. The present moment is sure to possess some
ingredient to embitter the chalice of mortal enjoyment,
and how effectually are we relieved by the soothing hope
that the deficiencies of the present day shall be supplied
by to-morrow ! The Anchor, which is connected with
this emblem, is an emblem of security. When the visions
of hope are real and rational, as when we hope in the
promises of God, in a future state of happiness to the
good, and the like, her anchor is sure and steadfast in
the harbor of a celestial country. To this country hope

96 THE MASTER MASON.

points as the future residence of the virtuous and the
good; thither all good Masons hope to arrive.

Green, but far greener is the Faith
That gives us victory over death ;
Fragrant, more fragrant far the Hope
That buoys our dying spirits up;
Enduring, but the Charity
That Masons teach will never die.

THE FORTY-SEVENTH PROBLEM. — The history of this
problem is much confused ; some writers attributing its
discovery to one person, some to another. Even the
period of its discovery is doubtful; but so many of the
most practical operations of architecture and surveying
depend upon it, that it is difficult to believe its discovery
bears date later than the erection of the Egyptian pyr-
amids. Its adoption into Freemasonry implies that the
members of this Order should be lovers of the arts and
sciences.

THE HOUR-GLASS.

LIFE'S sands are dropping, dropping,

Each grain a moment dies,
No stay has time, no stopping;

Behold, how swift he flies !
He bears away our rarest,

They smile and disappear,
The cold grave wraps our fairest;

Each falling grain 's a tear.

Life's sands are softly falling,

Death's foot is light as snow;
'Tis fearful, 'tis appalling

To see how swift thev flow :

THE SCYTHE. 97

To read the fatal warning

The sands so plainly tell
To feel there 's no returning

From death's dark shadowy dale.

*

Life's sands give admonition '

To use its moments well;
Each grain bears holy mission,

And this the tale they tell:
" Let zeal than time run faster,

Each grain some good afford,
Then at the last the Master

Shall double our reward."

THE SCYTHE. — This emblem is trite : as the mower cuts
the grass in its season, Death, the grim leveler, sweeps
away the human race at the appointed time. Behold,
what havoc the Scythe of Time has made in the genera-
tions of man ! If by chance we should escape the nu-
merous evils incident to childhood and youth, and with
health and vigor, to the years of manhood, yet, withal,
we must soon be cut down by the all-devouring Scythe of
Time, and be gathered into the land where our fathers
have* gone before us.

THE EMBLEMS OF MORTALITY. — At first view these
emblems, the Setting-Maul, the Spade, the Coffin, the
Open Grave, and the Sprig of Evergreen at its head,
seem but to add shades of gloom to those that have just
been moralized upon, the Hour-glass and the Scythe.
Alas! who can look within an Open Grave without a
sensation of profoundest melancholy? Is it for us, we
mournfully ask, to resign our manhood and court tho
companionship of the worm? Must our eyes, trained to
enjoy the charms of nature and of art, be blinded with
7

98"; ' THE MASTER MASON.

these clods, our tongues silenced in this narrow recep-
tacle? Yes, such will be our doom.

A flowing fiver or a standing lake
May their dry banks and naked shores forsake;
Their waters may exhale and upward move,
Their channel leave, to roll in clouds above:
But the returning winter will restore
What in the summer they had lost before;
But if, 0 man, thy vital streams desert
Their purple channels and defraud the heart,
With fresh recruits they ne'er can be supplied,
Nor feel their leaping life's returning tide. .

And such are all the lessons of human life. We walk
from grave to grave, as one may walk over a hard-fought
battle-field, and find no place for his foot save upon the
image of his kind. The emblems before us demand the
tear of fraternal sympathy, and we can not refuse to
weep. The frosts of death have palsied his mortal ten-
ement. " There is hope of a tree if it be cut down that
it may sprout again: but man dieth and wasteth away;
yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?"

As Freemasonry, in its three degrees, is an epitome
of human life, so one who passes through its impressive
ceremonial remains at the last under deep impressions
of thje certainty of death and the loathsomeness of the
grave. But here steps in the qualified instructor of the
Lodge, the Master, and the sad symbology opens out a
brighter lesson. It opens out the brightest, clearest,
most hopeful lesson of all; for it tells us what in the
olden time was a Masonic secret ; but now, " since light
and immortality have been brought to light in the Gos-
pel," is preached to every man, that, as this world is to

CHARITY. 09"

the good man but the tiling-room of heaven, so- the grave
is the door of the Celestial Lodge where our GRAND
MASTER and the multitude of the faithful Avho have en-
tered before us are waiting to receive us with tokens of
aifection and songs o'f transport. The soul remains un-
affected, flourishing in immortality.

Yea, though the body may decay into dust, and the
dust be scattered to the four w^nds; though our name
and our memory may fade from the minds of men,
yet there is One pledged to remember us ; to awaken us
when the morning hour shall come; to reach forth His
strong hand and to assist us to arise from our long sleep.
The Lion of .the Tribe of Judah hath prevailed ! The
Omnipotent is the All-merciful. We shall rise again.

Tuba mirum spargens sonura,
Per sepulchra regionum
Coget omnes ante Thronum.

CHARITY. — The shining virtue of Charity, so honorable
to our nature and so frequently enjoined in the Holy
Volume upon our altars, will appropriately close this
chapter. There are none of the characteristics of the an-
cient Craft so much valued as this ; their earliest records
and their perpetual practice coincide in this particular.
Charity includes a supreme love to God and an ardent
aifection for the rational beings of his creation. This
humane, generous, heaven-inspired principle is diametri-
cally opposed to the prime ingredient of human nature,
which looks only to self; not until this letter passion is
supplanted by the former, will the soul of man be purified
and fitted for the society of heaven. The feelings of the
heart, guided by reason, should direct the hand of charity.

100 THE MASTER MASON.

The true objects of relief are merit in distress, virtue in
temptation, innocence in tears, industrious men borne
down by affliction, acts -of providence, widows left de-
pendent and desolate, and orphans thrown in tender
years upon the frigid charities of the world.

Thus we close our comments upon the symbolical de-
grees. Every step in this part of the Masonic Ladder
will lift up the initiate further above the sordid level of
humanity, and nearer to the celestial world, whose light,
shining upon him through the first great light of the
Order, wins him toward itself. Glorious system, which,
while it the better fits a man for living in this world, so
perfectly fits him for the world to come ; and, dying late
and honored, justifies us in pronouncing over his remains
such a eulogy as this :

So falls the last of the old forest trees,
Within whose shades we wandered with delight;
Moss-grown, and hoary, yet the birds of heaven
Loved in its boughs to linger and to sing;
The summer winds made sweetest music there;
The soft, spring showers hung their brightest drops,
Glistening and cheerful on the mossy spray,
And to the last, that vigorous, ancient oak
Teemed with ripe fruitage!

Now the builders mourn

Through Temple-chambers their Grand Master fallen;
The clear intelligence, the genial soul,
The lips replete with wisdom, gone, all gone;
The ruffian Death has met and struck his prey,
And from the Quarry to the Mount all mourn.

Bind up with asphodel the mystic tools
And Jewels of the Work: bind up, ye Crafla,

CLOSING TUOUGlliS 'ON* THIS DEGREE. 101

The Square; it marked the fullness of his life;

To virtue's angle all his deeds were true;

The Level, lo 1 it leads us to the grave,

Thrice-honored, where our aged Father sleeps ;

The Plumb) it points the home his soul has found;

He ever walked by this unerring line,

Let down, suggestive from the hand of God:

Bind up, in mourning dark and comfortless

The Gauge, he gave one part to God, and God,

In blest exchange, gave him eternity:

The Trowel, in his brotherly hand it spread

Sweet concord, joining long-estranged hearts;

The Hour-glass, whence his vital sands have fled,

And every grain denoting one good deed :

The Gavel, in his master-hand it swayed

For three-score years the moral architects,

Quelling all strife, directing every hand,

And pointing all to the great Builder, God!

Bind these with asphodel; enshroud these Tools
And Jewels of the Work ; let bitterest tears
Flow for the man who wielded them so well,
But, overborne with Death, hath, in ripe age,
His labor fully done, passed from our sight !

CLOSING THOUGHTS ON THIS DEGREE. — A Lodge pur-
suing its work upon the design, and in the spirit of the
foregoing lessons, will realize the virtue expressed by
the poet in the following lines :

Where hearts are warm with kindred fire,

And love beams free from answering eyes,
Bright spirits hover always there

And that 's the home the Masons prize.

The Mason's Home; ah, peaceful home!
The Home of love and light and joy;
How gladly does the Mason come
To share his tender, sweet employ.

102 CLOSING THOUGHTS ON THIS DEGREE.

*A11 round the world, by land, by sea,

Where summers burn or winters chill,
The exiled Mason turns to thee,
And yearns to share the joys we feel.

The Mason's Home; ah, happy home I

The home of light and love and joy ;

There's not an hour but I would come

And share this tender, sweet employ.

A weary task, a dreary round,

Is all benighted man may know ;
But here a brighter scene is found,

The brightest scene that's found below.

The Mason's Home; ah, blissful home!

Glad center of unmingled joy;
Long as I live, I '11 gladly come
And share this tender, sweet employ.

And when the hour of death shall come

And darkness seal my closing eye,
May hands fraternal bear me home,
The home where weary Masons lie.
The Mason's Home; ah, heavenly

To faithful hearts eternal joy:
How blest to find beyond the tomb
The end of all our sweet employ!

THE SECOND ORDER IN FREEMASONRY.

THE CAPITULAR DEGREES:

CONSISTING OF

THE MARK MASTER, THE PAST

MASTER, THE MOST EXCELLENT MASTER, AND

THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

THESE four Degrees are conferred, according to the
American system, in Lodges and a Chapter of Capitular
Masonry. The ballot is taken in the Fourth or Royal
Arch Degree, the same rules of balloting being observed
as in the Symbolical Lodge. All discipline exercised by
a Lodge requiring suspension and expulsion, is indorsed
by the Chapter without inquiry. The Chapter has also
its own code of discipline for offenses against its laws.
Not less than nine members can open, work, or close a
Royal Arch Chapter.

THE MARK MASTER.

THE MARK MASTER GLORIFIED.

GOD trusts to each a portion of his plan,
And doth for honest labor wages give ;

"Wisdom and time he granteth every man,
And will not idleness and sloth forgive.

The week is waning fast — art thou prepared,

0 laborer, for the Overseer's award ?

Hast thou been waiting in the market here,

Because no man hath hired thee? Rise and go:

The sun on the Meridian doth appear —
The Master calls thee to his service now;

Rise up, and go wherever duty calls,

And build with fervency the Temple-walls.

1 see, within the heavenly home above,

. One who hath done his life-tasks faithful!^';
In the dark quarries all the week he strove,
And bore the heat and burden of the day;
So, when life's sun passed downward to the west,
Richest refreshment was his lot, and rest t

So shall it be with thee, 0 toiling one !

However hard thine earthly lot may seem;
It is not long until the set of sun,

And then the past will be a pleasing dream.
The Sabbath to the faithful laborer given,
Is blest companionship, and rest, and heaven.

THE MARK MASTEK.

THE THEORY OF THE DEGREE OF MARK
MASTER.

IN entering upon a new system of Masonry, the chap-
itral or capitular, distinct in almost every particular from
the ancient or symbolical system, a different style of eluci-
dation must be 'adopted. We can not any longer look to
emblems or symbols as our guides, because there are few
characters of this sort applicable to these Degrees. Such
designs as ingenious ritualists of the present day have
introduced are inconvenient for reference, and will bo
thoroughly explained within these pages, but they can
not, in a Masonic sense, be styled symbols or emblems.
The distinction between Symbolical Masonry, or the
Masonry of the Ancient Craft Degrees, and this, which
forms the subject-matter of the present and subsequent
pages, is, that the one is fixed and bounded by ancient
devices called symbols, mostly of an architectural charac-
ter, so definite in their character that it is impossible to
innovate greatly upon them without detection ; the ether
is controlled only by traditions, more or less apocryphal,
which receive new forms, as the fancy of modern ritu-
alists may treat them. Thus it follows that while the
Ancient Craft Degrees are essentially uniform through-

108 THE MARK MASTER.

out the world, the Degrees conferred in the Chapters and
Councils in the United States are essentially different
from those which, under similar names, are worked in
foreign countries.

But with all this confusion of working, liability to inno-
vation, and want of antiquity, there is something so beau-
tiful in the drama of the following Degrees, the covenants
are so impressive and humane, and the lessons inculcated
in the various Lectures so fragrant with the spirit of the
Divine Word, that it need not be wondered at if, in the
United States at least, where the reverence for antiquity
is less than in older countries, they are prized equally
with the ancient and world-wide system. Almost every
Master Mason in this country is, or intends to become, a
Royal Arch Mason, and a Mason of the ^Cryptic Rite.

What we have said in general terms of the six follow-
ing Degrees, (the Mark Master, the Past Master, the Most
Excellent Master, the Royal Arch Mason, the Royal Mas-
ter, and the Select Master,) we affirm with peculiar empha-
sis of the Degree of MARK MASTER. Its drama is exqui-
sitely beautiful, exhibiting the work of the scholar, the
Christian, the Biblical student, and the genius, who, had
he turned his mind to dramatic writings, might even have
emulated a Shakspeare. Its covenants are benevolent in
an eminent degree, being admirably designed for the fur-
therance of that social and charitable intercourse between
brethren which this Degree particularly enjoins. Its les-
sons, as the following pages will show, are wisely culled
from the great treasury of the Divine Word. In brief,
so practical is the MARK MASTER'S DEGREE in its char-
acter, as conferred in the United States, that its principal
device, THE KEY-STONE, is publicly worn, Fearing the same

MARK MASTER'S LODGE AND JEWELS. 109

relation to the so-called " Higher Degrees " which the
symbol of the SQUARE AND COMPASS bears to the " Lower
Degrees."

In theory, the Degree of MARK MASTER is appendant
to that of Fellow Craft, and, could its traditions be his-
torically established, might, with propriety, be conferred
upon Fellow Crafts as the complement of that grade.
Its original members were merely Fellow Crafts ; its lec-
tures describe the manner in which Fellow Crafts were
classified, governed, and paid; its covenants have direct
application to Fellow Crafts alone. But, by general con-
sent, the Degree in this country is confined to Master
Masons alone, and a new system of Lodges is framed to
accommodate it. The title of the organization in which
the Degrees of Mark Master, Past Master, Most Excel-
lent Master, and Royal Arch Mason are conferred, is
Royal Arch Chapter. In a Chapter, not less than nine
members can open or work. The government of Chap-
ters is intrusted to Grand Chapters of Capitular or Chap-
Ural Masonry, of which there is one in every State in
the Union.

MARK MASTER'S LODGE AND JEWELS.

THE ALTAR. — The central design in this, as in all
preceding Lodges, is the Altar, surmounted with God's
revealed Law, crowned with the Masonic implements —
the Square and Compass. To an observing eye, this
constant recurrence of sacred emblems must be highly
suggestive. Can an institution be evil in tendency that
seeks the blessing of God through every grade of its
advancement ? Can the secrecy of which the enemies of

110 THE MARK MASTER.

Freemasonry make a handle, be of an improper charac-
ter when, whatever else is shut out of the hall, God is not
shut out?

There is a prayer unsaid —

No lips its accents move;
'Tis uttered by the pleading eye,

And registered above.

Each mystic Sign is prayer,
By hand of Mason given ;
Each gesture pleads or imprecates,
And is observed in heaven.

The deeds that mercy prompts
Are prayers in sweet disguise;
Though unobserved by any here,
They're witnessed in the skies.

Then at the Altar kneel —
In silence make thy prayer;
And He whose very name is love,
The plea will surely hear.

The darkest road is light —
We shun the dangerous snare,
When heavenly hand conducts the way,
Responsive to our prayer.

THE KEY-STONE. — The use of the Jcey-stone as a sym-
bolical device is peculiar to the MARK MASTER. Origin-
ally connected with a pleasing tradition, upon which the
Degree is principally founded, it has become the distinct-
ive emblem of the grade ; and the members are impress-
ively instructed to mark well its figurative explanation.
Upon its front are engraven, within two concentric cir-
cles, certain cryptographic characters, known only to the

MARK MASTER'S LODGE AND JEWELS. Ill

initiated, but bearing a general allusion to that "hiero-
glyphic bright" on the Fellow Crafts' tracing board, which,
in the language of the poet-brother, "Burns,

"None but craftsmen ever saw."

Within the inmost circle is a space left for the private
"Mark" of the member who displays the badge. This
is some device selected by himself, having reference to
his avocation in life, his heraldic bearings, or such figure
as is dictated by his fancy. According to the general
rule of Mark Masters' Lodges, every member is required
to choose a "Mark" within a specified time after entrance
upon the grade. Such "Mark" must not conflict with
one previously chosen by a member of the same Lodge;
and, being once recorded in the "Mark Book," can not
afterward be changed, save by consent of the Lodge.

The use of this "Mark" in those dispensations of
benevolence which form so striking a feature in this sys-
tem of Masonry, is exceedingly significant. Its perver-
sion is carefully guarded against : no MARK MASTER may
pledge his "Mark" the second time until it has been
redeemed from its former pledge; and the plea of dis-
tress made by a MARK MASTER, when accompanied by
his "Mark," can not be refused by a member of this
grade without violating the covenant of the Degree.

Fairest and foremost of the train that wait

On man's most dignified and happy state,

Whether we name thee Charity or Love,

Chief grace below, and all in all above — •

O, never seen but in thy blest effects,

Or felt but in the soul that Heaven selects;

Who seeks to praise thee, and to make thee known

To other hearts, must have thee in his own.

112 THE MARK MASTER.

Teach me to feel another's woe— •

To hide the faults I see;
That mercy I to others show,

That mercy show to me.

No works shall find acceptance in that day
When all disguises shall be rent away,
That square not truly with the Scripture plan,
Nor* spring from love to God or love to man.

THE THREE SQUARES. — In the Degree of Fellow Craft,
of which this of the MARK MASTER is 'but the comple-
ment, the Masonic application of the Square is explained.
As applied to the person of a candidate for Masonic light,
the Square expresses that he must be physically, men-
tally, and morally perfect, to be able to pass the strict
ordeal of Ancient Craft Masonry. The three squares
used in the Lodge of MARK MASTERS have the same gen-
eral reference, but in a more extended and threefold sense.
Here the works of each member are considered as applied
to the squares of the Divine Law in the three dispensa-
tions : the Patriarchal, the Mosaic, and the Christian. The
grand trial of humanity to be had at the last day, when
God
" Shall try the blocks we offer with his own unerring square,"

is forcibly expressed, and an inimitable moral drawn.
There is impressed upon every member the duty of being
circumspect in all his words and actions, and of discoun-
tenancing immorality in others, as well as of keeping his
own white apron untarnished by a single stain. It was
written by the pen of inspiration, under the dictation of
the unerring wisdom of the Most High, that virtue exalteth
a nation; and it is equally true that vice or immorality,

THE HAPPY HOUR. 113

unrestrained, is not only a reproach on any institution
where it is allowed to exist, but will, sooner or later,
destroy the peace and happiness of the members of that
institution. MARK MASTERS, therefore, are taught so to
conduct themselves, in their intercourse with each other
as brethren, as well as in their dealings with the world
without, that they may not bring discredit upon them-
selves or the institution of Masonry to which they belong.

THE HAPPY HOUR

0, happy hour when Masons meet I
0, rarest joys when Masons greet 1
Each interwoven with the other,
And brother truly joined with brother
In intercourse that none can daunt —
Linked by the ties of covenant.

See, ranged about the Holy Word,

The Craftsmen praise their common Lord!

See in each eye a love well proven,

Around each heart a faith well woven I

Feel in each hand-grip what a tie

Is this that men call Masonry!

Blest bond! when broken, we would fain
Unite the severed links again;
Would urge the tardy hours along,
To spend the wealth of light and song,
That makes the Lodge a sacred spot.
O, be the season ne'er forgot,
That takes us from the world of care
To happy halls where Masons are !

114 THE MARK MASTER.

THE CEDARS OF LEBANON.

Palestine, as a territory, is destitute of forests suitable
for building material. When, therefore, King David pro-
jected a grand edifice which should be the crowning glory
of the reign of his son Solomon, and an evidence of the
national devotion to God, he made application to Hiram,
the Phoenician monarch, whose possessions included the
powerful mountain ranges of Lebanon, for a supply of
the cedars which grew there in unparalleled abundance.
The Tyrian king, between whom and King David there
existed a more than royal friendship, readily acceded to
his request; and thus the work of preparation for build-
ing was expedited. So large was the supply of this mate-
rial furnished to King Solomon, that, after the comple-
tion of the edifice upon Mount Moriah, which occupied
seven years and upward, King Solomon erected, upon
the contiguous hill westward, a palace for his own use,
in which, so abundantly did the cedar enter, that it was
entitled "the House of Lebanon."

On Lebanon's majestic brow
The grand and lofty cedars grew
That, shipped in floats to Joppa's port, .
Up to Jerusalem were brought.

The principal groves of cedar were found about one
hundred and fifty miles north-west of Jerusalem, and
not far from the sea-coast on which the cities of Sidon,
Sarepta, and Tyre stood. This suggests the mode of
transhipment, which is described in the Scriptures : The
trunks of trees were rudely shaped, made into floats or
rafts, and brought down the coast by Phoenician mar-

THE CEDARS OF LEBANON. 115

iners, the^ most skillful sailors of the age, about one hun-
dred miles to the port of Joppa, the only seaport oppo-
site Jerusalem, from which it was distant but thirty-five
miles. Here they were adapted, by the tools of the work-
men, to the exact places they were to occupy in the
Temple, and then carried by land to the Sacred Hill.

Being incorruptible to atmospheric influences, the cedar
beams and planks thus used might have remained to this
day, the ornaments of Moriah and Sion, and the tokens
of the brotherly covenants that connected the monarchs
of Israel and Phoenicia, but for the destructive influences
of invasion. The Temple, having stood four hundred and
sixteen years, was burned by Nebuchadnezzar, King of
Babylon, who was the instrument in God's hand to chas-
tise a rebellious and idolatrous people.

The number of cedars remaining upon Lebanon is very
small — less, it is said, than one hundred; but these are
grand specimens of the Creator's power, towering in sub-
limity in the valleys, where they are hidden, and suggest-
ing what must have been the ancient glory of Lebanon,
covered with a growth of such.

JOPPA. — The peculiarly hilly, and even precipitous,
character of Joppa is preserved in the traditions of the
Degree of MARK MASTER, and a benevolent moral de-
duced, in accordance with the entire instructions of the
grade.

True charity, a plant divinely nursed,

Fed by the hope from which it rose at first,

Thrives against hope, and in the rudest scene;

Storms but enliven its unfading green ;

Exuberant is the shadow it supplies;

Its fruit on earth, its growth above the skies.

116 THE MARK MASTER,

Thus no opportunity is lost, either in covenants, em-
blems, traditions, or dramatic exercises, to impress upon
the candidate's mind the Divine lesson that, great as faith
and hope are esteemed in their effects upon the human
heart, "the greatest of these is charity."

THE WHITE STONE. — Many references are made in this
Degree to "the white stone," "the head-stone," "the stone
which the builders rejected," "the head of the corner."
The whole of this, however, is most impressively con-
veyed in the following passage from Revelations: "To
him that overcome th will I give to eat of the hidden
manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone
a new name written, which no man knoweth saving him
that receiveth it."

THE METHOD OF VIGILANCE. — The vast numbers of
workmen who labored upon the Temple — more than one
hundred and fifty thousand — will suggest to the mind
some of the difficulties encountered in rewarding merit
by a fair compensation to the laborers, and punishing the
guilty, both those who idly dissipated their time, and
those who attempted, through fraud, to secure wages
which they had not earned. These difficulties, quite in-
superable to an ordinary mind, were thoroughly obviated
by the wisdom of Solomon, and it is believed that no
instance of impropriety occurred, during the whole labor,
which was not summarily detected and punished. From
the traditions in which these matters are communicated,
speculative Masons derive moral instruction, apt, abound-
ing, and important.

THE WORKING TOOLS. — The implements of practical
architecture, adopted as appropriate to this Degree, are
the chisel and the mallet. The former suggests the

THE CLOSING INJUNCTIONS. 117

effects of discipline and education upon the human heart,
in discovering the latent virtues of the mind, drawing
them forth to range the large field of matter and space,
and displaying the summit of human knowledge, viz.,
our duty to God and to man.

The latter suggests that, in the school of discipline, a
man may learn to be content. What the mallet is to the
workman, enlightened reason is to the passions ; it curbs
ambition, it depresses envy, it moderates anger, and it
encourages good dispositions.

THE DIVINE LAW OF JUSTICE. — In the ceremony of
closing the Lodge of MARK MASTERS is introduced the
parable of the householder, who employed laborers, as
he found them in waiting in the market-place, to do the
work of his vineyard. To each he proffers a specified
rate of wages upon which the labor was performed.
And when, at the close of day, he called together the
workmen, and, paying them the covenanted compensa-
tion, he found some dissatisfied with the distribution, not
because there had been any breach of the contract, but
because the laborers of but an hour were receiving as
much as those who had borne the burden and heat of
the day, the householder silenced their unreasona-ble
complaints by reference to the Divine law of justice.

THE CLOSING INJUNCTIONS. — To the candidate who has
passed thoughtfully through the dramatic ceremonial of
the MARK MASTER'S DEGREE, fortunate in having a well-
instructed Master and an expert membership, the closing
injunctions appeal with great power. In the honorable
character of MARK MASTER, it is more particularly your
duty to endeavor to let your conduct in the Lodge and
among the brethren be such as may stand the test of the

118 THE MARK MASTER.

Grand Overseer's Square, that you may not, like the un-
finished and imperfect work of the negligent and unfaith-
ful of former times, be rejected and thrown aside as unfit
for that spiritual building, that house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens.

While such is your conduct, should misfortune assail
you, should friends forsake* you, should envy traduce
your good name, and malice persecute you, yet may you
have confidence, that among MARK MASTERS you will
find friends who will administer relief to your distresses
and comfort your afflictions ; ever bearing in mind, as a
consolation under all the frowns of fortune and as an
encouragement to hope for better prospects, that the
stone which the builders rejected, possessing merits to
them unknown, became the chief stone of the corner.

THE PAST MASTER.

THE PAST MASTEK.

0 ! raised to oriental chair,
% With royal honors crowned,
The grace and dignity to bear,

As in the days renowned.
Let firmness guide the ruling hand,

Nor Gavel fall in vain ;
And kindness soften the command,

And law the vice restrain.

The open Word delight to read —

That trestle-board of heaven—
And see that every Mason lieevl

The deathless precepts given ;
And let the Trowel truly spread

Its cement so divine,
That all the Craft be duly paid

Their corn, and oil, and wine.

The Plumb-line, hanging from the skyf

In the GRAND MASTER'S hand,
Be this your emblem, ever nigh,

By this to walk and stand ;
Thus grateful Craftsmen will conspire

To sing your praises true,
And honors grant you, even higher,

Than now they offer you.

THE PAST MASTEK.

THE THEORY OF THE DEGREE OF PAST
MASTER.

WHAT we have said of the dramatic beauty of the
various degrees elucidated in these pages, does not
apply to this of PAST MASTER so much as to the others.
Its drama is but slight, but a single lesson being com-
municated therein, viz., that of the proper government
of Lodges by Masters. What it lacks in dramatic force,
however, is supplied in the importance of the subject.
Nothing is more vital to the prosperity of Freemasonry
than the proper instruction of Lodge-masters.

All Masonic history is uniform in the expression of
this fact. Mr. Webb, -in his remarks upon the Degree
of PAST MASTER, says :

"It should be carefully studied and well understood
by every Master of a Lodge. It treats of the govern-
ment of our society and the disposition of our rulers,
and illustrates their requisite qualifications. It includes
the ceremony of opening and closing Lodges in the sev-
eral preceding Degrees, and also the forms of installa-
tion and consecration in the tjrand Lodge, as well as
private Lodges. It comprehends the ceremonies at lay-
ing the foundation-stones of public buildings, and also at

121

122 THE PAST MASTER.

dedications and at funerals, by a variety of particulars
explanatory of those ceremonies."

The form of government adopted in Masonry is pecu-
liar to itself. While the members of a Lodge are unre-
stricted in their prerogative of electing, annually, their
Master, such an one as they prefer, yet, from the mo-
ment of his installation, they resign the management of
their Masonic affairs unreservedly into his hands. He
is the custodian of their landmarks. From his authority
there is no appeal, save to the Grand Master. There
can be no meeting of the Lodge without his approbation,
as the visible emblem of authority ; the Charter or War-
rant, without which the Lodge can not legally assemble,
is in his possession. The Lodge has no representatives
in Grand Lodge save himself and the two Wardens, nor
can these be ousted from the privilege of representation
by any action of the Lodge. This sketch of the Mas-
ter's relation to the brethren will show that his station
is widely different from that of the chairman or president
of an ordinary association.

Such being the ancient powers and prerogatives of
the Master, it is important that they should be carefully
hedged around and determined beyond cavil ; also that
he should be thoroughly instructed in them. That a
spirit of dictation and haughtiness is likely to grow out
of so large a range of authority, is highly probable ; and
some means of communication between the Lodge-master
and others who hold, or have heretofore held, similar
authority, must be admitted as very desirable. It is for
these purposes the Degree of PAST MASTER is de-
signed.

'DISPENSING WAGES. 123

DISPENSING WAGES. — One of the prime duties of a
Master is that of " paying the Craft their wages," con-
veyed in the following verses :

They come from many a pleasant home,
To do the ancient work they come,

With cheerful hearts, and light;
They leave the outer world a space,
And, gathering here in secret place,

They spend the social night
They earn the meed of honest toil,
. Wages of corn, and wine, and oil.

Upon the sacred altar lies
Ah ! many a sacrifice,

Made by these working men;
The passions curbed, the lusts restrained,
And hands with human gore unstained,

And hearts from envy clean ;
They -earn the meed of honest toil,
Wages of corn, and wine, and oil.

They do the deeds their MASTER did ;
The naked clothe, the hungry feed —

They warm the shivering poor;
They wipe from fevered eyes the tear;
A brother's joys and griefs they share,

As ONE had done before;
They earn the meed of honest toil,
Wages of corn, and wine, and oil.

Show them how Masons Masons know,
The land of strangers journeying through;

Show them how Masons love ;
And let admiring spirits see
How reaches Mason's charity

From earth to heaven above;
Give them the meed of honest toil,
Wages of corn, and wine, and oiL

124 THE PAST MASTER.'

Then will each brother's tongue declare
How bounteous his wages are;

And peace will reign within ;
Your walls with skillful hands will grow,
And coming generations know

Your Temple is Divine;
Then give the meed of honest toil,
Wages of corn, and wine, and oil.

Yes, pay these men their just desert;
Let none dissatisfied depart,

But give them full reward;
Give light, that longing eyes may see;
Give truth, that doth from error free;

Give them to know the Lord !
This is their meed of honest toil,
Wages of corn, and wine, and oil.

TIIE BURIAL OF THE DEAD. — Another of the primary
duties of the Lodge-master is that of a decorous burial
of the fraternal dead. This is a subject of so much im-
portance as to demand the best efforts of those to whom
it is intrusted. All the symbolisms of Freemasonry
point to the grave and the shining world beyond for
their explication. This is the most impressive ceremony
of the Order that can be performed in public. It has in
it all the elements of dramatic effect — the dead body, the
sorrowing mourners, the coffin, the spade, the sprig of
evergreen, the open grave. The ritualists, Preston and
Webb, whose plans are mainly followed in the United
States, give a burial service sufficiently impressive. It
only remains for the Lodge-master to lay the subject
impressively before the eyes and ears of his congrega-
tion. It has been well said that " a Masonic burial,
properly performed, is productive of twelve Masonio

THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LODGE. 125

initiations," so deep is the impression made on the minds
of the community.

MASONIC CONSECRATIONS. — At the consecration of
.foundation-stones, cape-stones, etc., done under Masonic
auspices, the Lodge-master likewise takes the lead,
either as the representative of his own Lodge or of the
Grand Lodge.

THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LODGED— The discipline of
.the Lodge being essentially in the Lodge-master's care,
he is strictly charged, in his own installation service, in
fifteen ancient regulations, hedging him so closely about
that he can not materially err. These are, in brief, that
he shall be a good and moral man ; that he will be peace-
able and law-abiding ; that he will avoid plots and con-
spiracies ; that he will respect the civil magistrate, work
diligently, live creditably, and act honorably by all men ;
that he will honor the Masonic rulers, and submit to their
awards ; that he will avoid private quarrels, and cherish
temperance; that he will be cautious, courteous, and
faithful ; that he will respect the true brethren and dis-
countenance the false ; that he will promote the general
good of society, cultivate the social virtues, and propa-
gate the knowledge of Masonry ; that he will pay homage
to the Grand Master, and conform to the lawful edicts
of the Grand Lodge ; that he will suffer no innovations
in the body of Masonry; that he will attend the sessions
of Grand Lodge ; that he will permit no new Lodge to
be formed save by consent of Grand Lodge, and give no
countenance to clandestine Masonry; that he will admit
no man a Mason without cautious scrutiny into charac-
ter; and that he will put visitors to due examination
before admission.

126 THE PAST MASTER.

THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON.

The PAST MASTER has his own traditions relative to
King Solomon and his Temple. The following is the
scriptural account of this edifice :

"The house which King Solomon built for the Lord,
the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth
thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.
And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty
cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth
of the house ; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof
before the house. And for the house he made windows
of narrow lights. And against the wall of the house he
built chambers round about, against the walls of the
house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle :
and he made chambers round about. The nethermost
chamber was five cubits broad, and the middle was six
cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad : for
without, in the wall of the house, he made narrowed rests
round about, that the beams should not be fastened in
the walls of the house. And in the eleventh year, in the
month Bui, (which is the eighth month,) was the house
finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according
to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in build-
ing it." — 1 Kings vi.

The above account, though doubtless in accordance
with the architectural nomenclature of the period, is
almost inexplicable at the present day. Various plans
have been drawn by skillful artists, designed to afford to
the eye a view of the shape and proportions of this re-

THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 127

markable edifice, but there is so little harmony among
the plans as to lead to the suspicion that the key to the
architectural designs of Solomon has not yet been dis-
covered. The ground on which it stood is a part of
Mount Moriah, near the place where the faith .of Abra-
ham was tried when he was commanded to offer his. son
Isaac upon the altar, and where David appeased the
destroying angel by erecting an altar in the threshing-
floor of Araunah. It was begun in the year of the world
2992, and before the Christian era 1012; and, as the
Biblical narrative positively asserts, was completed in
about seven years. In its construction, Solomon engaged
the cooperation of Hiram, the King of Tyre, and of the
most skillful artist of that, and, perhaps, of any age,
called, it is said, in the Phoenician dialect, Abdonemus,
but, in the ancient Masonic constitutions, Amom, or
Hiram Abiff, as his Assistant Grand Master of the
work. Under them were 200 Hadorini, or princes ;
3,300 Menatzchim, or expert Master Masons, as over-
seers ; 80,000 Ghiblim (sculptors), Ishchotzeb, (hewers),
and Benai (layers), who were ingenious Fellow Crafts,
besides a levy out of all Israel of 30,000, under Adon-
iram, the Junior Grand Warden, making in all 113,600,
exclusive of the two Grand Wardens employed in the
noble undertaking. Besides these, there were 70,000
[shsabal, or men of burden.

COLLECTION OF MASONIC IMPLEMENTS. — The general
collection of Masonic implements, placed before the eye
of the Worshipful Master, reminds him of his power and
jurisdiction, while it warns him to avoid the abuse of
that poAver, limiting his jurisdiction and prescribing his
conduct. These emblems afford him copious topics of

128 THE PAST MASTER.

advice to such as assist him in the government of the
Fraternity, as well as to all the brethren over whom he
is called to preside. There he can descant upon the ex-
cellencies of the Holy Writings as the rule of life ; for
those writings teach us, that, being born upon a Level,
we should act upon the Square, circumscribing our de-
sires within the Compass of nature's gifts, poured upon
us from the Horn of Plenty. Here, also, he may exhort
them to walk uprightly, suffering neither the pressure
of poverty nor the avarice of riches to tempt the heart
to swerve for a moment from the Line of rectitude sus-
pended before them from the center of heaven. The
division of time into equal and regular portions, and the
subjection of our passions and desires, will come natu-
rally up, while the by-laws of the Lodge regulate the
deportment of the Craft assembled for purposes of social
improvement and mental recreation. Thus the Master
will demand prompt obedience, while he exercises an
affectionate moderation. He will mingle the sweetness
of mercy with the necessary severity of justice.

THE MOST EXCELLENT MASTER,

HUMBLE ADORATION.

PROSTRATE before the Lord,
We praise and bless his name,

That he doth condescend to own
The temple that we frame.

No winter's piercing blast,
No summer's scorching flame

Has daunted us; and prostrate here,
We praise and bless his name.

From lofty Lebanon

These sacred cedars came;

We dedicate them to thy cause,
And praise and bless thy name.

Ea°,h noble block complete,
Each pure and sparkling gem,

We give to build and beautify,
And praise and bless thy name.

With millions here below,
With heaven's own cherubim,

Prostrate before the fire and cloud,
We praise and bless thy name.

THE MOST EXCELLENT MASTER

THE THEORY OF THE DEGREE OF MOST
EXCELLENT MASTER.

THE glowing eulogiums pronounced in a preceding
page upon the Degree of Mark Master are equally
appropriate when applied to that of MOST EXCELLENT
MASTER. Its drama, covenants, and lectures bear marks
of the same skillful hand that framed the other, while
the Scriptural fact conveyed in them — that of the com-
pletion and dedication of King Solomon's Temple — is
even more impressive in its character.

The Degree of MOST EXCELLENT MASTER has always
been a favorite in the United States since the period of
its introduction, some seventy years ago.

When the work of the building was complete, the tim-
bers brought from the distant forests, the stones from
the nearer quarries, the jewels from Ethiopian mines, the
precious metals from every part of the known earth —
when, amidst an assembled multitude enumerated by mill-
ions, the Wise King stood up to dedicate a work in which
skill and wealth had been exhausted, incidents occurred
of a Divine character which gave token of God's accept-
ance of the offering. The TIRE and the CLOUD from
heaven descended — the one to veil from human eyes the

131

132 THE MOST EXCELLENT MASTER.

master-piece of human glory, the other to consume the
multitude of burnt-offerings which the piety of the chosen
people had accumulated upon the altar. Then the mul-
titude of Israel fell prostrate in profoundest adoration.
Then from every voice there went up the grand So mole
it be of the Masonic heart, "For he is good; for his mercy
endureth forever ! "

These things are taught in the drama of the MOST
EXCELLENT MASTER'S DEGREE. The spirit of the Dedi-
cation Prayer is the spirit of this grade, wherein King
Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the pres-
ence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth
his hands toward heaven, and blessed the Lord God of
Israel in fitting terms as a covenant-keeping God. Then,
in a series of seven petitions, he asked :

1. That the Temple might become a holy place, in
which perjury should ever be detected arid punished.

2. That Israel, stricken at any time before the enemy
for their sins, if they should turn toward the Temple and
confess, pray, and make supplication to God, might bo
forgiven and brought again to the land of their fa:

3. That the rains of heaven, restrained on account of
Israel's offenses, should be restored to the land whenever
the people thereof should turn to the Temple, confess,
pray, and make supplication.

4. That famine, pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, and
caterpillar, blasting and devastating the land of Israel,
should be removed whenever the people thereof should
turn to the Temple, confess, pray, and make supplica-
tion.

5. That the stranger, coming from a far country for
His Name's sake, and praying toward the Temple, should

THEORY OF DE&REE OF MOST EXCELLENT MASTER. 133

be heard iu heaven, and the purpose of his supplications
fully granted.

6. That Israel, going forth to battle, first turning to
the Temple and praying to him who dwelleth therein,
might be heard in heaven and their prayer granted.

7. That Israel, being carried away out of the country,
captives, to a country near or far, on account of their
sins, but returning to God in heart and soul, and pray-
ing to God toward the land of their fathers, and the city
of God's choice, and the Temple built for His Name,
might receive compassion from their conquerors, be for-
given for their offenses, and all their prayers answered
and granted.

These seven grand requests being proffered in the
hearing of the assembled millions, King Solomon now
solemnly blessed all the congregation of Israel with a
loud voice, saying:

"The Lord our God be with us as he was with our
fathers.

"Let him not leave us nor forsake us.

"Let these words of supplication be nigh unto the Lord
day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his serv-
aut and of his people Israel, at all times, as the matter
shall require : that all the people of the earth may know
that the Lord is (uul, and that there is none else.

"Let your heart, therefore, be perfect with the Lord
our God, to walk in his statutes and to keep his com*
mamlments, as at this day/*

THE PARTING COUNSEL. — The parting counsel given
by the Koyal Uuilder to those who for more than seven
years had patiently served him, is suggested in the fol-
lowing lines:

134 THE MOST EXCELLENT MASTER.

King Solomon sat in his mystic chair —
His chair on a platform high —

And his words addressed,

Through the listening West,
To a band of brothers nigh —

Through the West and South

These words of truth,
To a band of brothers nigh.

Ye builders, go ! ye have done the work—-
The cape-stone standeth sure;

From the lowermost rock

To the loftiest block,
The fabric is secure—

From the arch's swell

To the pinnacle, ,

The fabric is secure.

Go, crowned with fame : old time will pass,
And many changes bring;

But the deed you've done,

The circling sun
Through every land will sing;

The moon and stars,

While earth endures,
Through every land will sing.

Go, build like this : from the quarries vast
The precious stones reveal;

There's many a block

In the matrice-rock,
Will honor your fabrics well;

There's many a beam

By the mountain stream,
Will honor your fabrics well.

Go, build like this: divest with skill
Each superfluity;

80 MOTE IT BE. 135

With critic eye

Each fault espy —
Be zealous, fervent, free;

By the perfect Square

Your work prepare —
Be zealous, fervent, free.

Go, build like this : to a fitting place
Raise up the Ashlars true;

On the trestle-board

Of your Master's Lord,
The grand intention view;

In each mystic line

Of the vast design,
The grand intention view.

Go, build like this: and when exact
The joinings scarce appear,

With the trowel's aid

Such cement spread,
As time can never wear;

Lay thickly round

Such wise compound
As time can never wear.

Go, brothers; thus enjoined, farewell;
Spread o'er the darkened West

Illume each clime

With art sublime —
The noblest truths attest;

Be Masters now ;

And, as you go,
The noblest truths attest!

So MOTE IT BE. — This expression is the emphatic
amen uttered by the assembled craft upon the repeti-
tion of any of the ancient landmarks. It is the posi-

136 THE MOST EXCELLENT MASTER.

tive affirmation of all that has been handed down to the
existing generation by the fathers. The following lines
express the spirit and intention of the words:

So mote it be with us when life shall end,

.And from the East the Lord of Light shall bend;

And we, our six days' labor fully done,

Shall claim our wages at the MASTER'S throne.

So mote it be with us: that when the Square,
That perfect implement, with heavenly care
Shall be applied to every block we bring,
No fault shall see our MASTER and our King.

So mote it be with us: that, though our days

Have yielded little to the Master's praise,

The little we have builded may be proved

To have the marks our first Grand MASTER loved I

So mote it be with us: we are but weak;
Our days are few; our trials who can speak!
But sweet is our communion while we live,
And rich rewards the MASTER deigns to give.

Let's toil; then, cheerfully; let's die in hope;
The wall in wondrous grandeur riseth up;
They who come after shall the work complete,
And they and we receive the wages meet.

THE KEY-STONE. — In the beautiful and affecting drama
of the Mark Master's grade, reference is had to the key-
stone, the name of .its designer, its singular history and
destination. In the grade of MOST EXCELLENT MASTER
this charming device again comes to light, illustrating the
completion of the edifice of Solomon. Considered as an
arch, the placing of the key-stone represents its perfec-
tion. In the deeds of charity to which the principles of

THE LIGHT OF THE TEMPLE. 137

our ancient institution daily and hourly prompt us, who
would like to feel that the last act of kindness he has
performed should never be succeeded by another? that
no further opportunity will ever be afforded him by the
Master of life to wipe away a sorrowing tear, to soften
an agonizing sigh, to mitigate a weight of woe ? Yet, as
human life is in the highest degree uncertain, such may
be the case with any one of us. Already the fiat may
have gone forth that the arch of our life is finished, and
the vacant seat in the world to come waits our entrance to
be filled ! Already the sprig of Acacia, hanging greenly
upon its native tree, may be marked out and designated,
which the Master of our Lodge shall throw upon our
coffin ! Solemn reflection ! let us improve it by improv-
ing every moment of our time to do good, so that when
the key-stone is finally dropped into place, marking the
consummation of earthly things, we may expect, both
from our GRAND MASTER above, and from his surround-
ing angels and spirits, a welcome into the seats of the
blest.

THE LIGHT OF THE TEMPLE. — To one whose shadow
fills the earth, whose purpose was no less than that of
fixing Jehovah, the light and life of heaven, in a tenement
of earth ; whose site, so wisely chosen, refreshes our mem-
ory with the faith of a patriarch, the repentance of a king,
the sacrifice of a Redeemer; whose preparation exhausted
the treasures of the wealthiest and the zeal of the might-
iest; whose pattern, conceived in the Divine mind, was
traced by the finger and communicated in writing by the
spirit of God — that spirit which can not err ; whose build-
ers, divinely selected, divinely inspired, were divinely
strengthened and sustained ; whose completion left noth-
7

138 THE MOST EXCELLENT MASTER.

ing wanting, introduced nothing superfluous ; whose dedi-
cation called down from heaven the fire of approval and
the cloud of acceptance ; whose memory is both the pride
and the sting of the Hebrew as he walks his homeless,
aimless way upon the earth : to such a theme — to one
that directs us to the fountain of life for sustenance and
enjoyment; to one rich enough to comprehend Revelation,
tradition, reference, type, antitype, prophecy and fulfill-
ment; to one that challenges us to consider a Temple the
most costly, the most beautiful, the most perfect, the most
sacred, the most venerable ever contemplated, executed,
or beautified by man — this Degree of MOST EXCELLENT
MASTER directs our minds. It is good for the young
laying up a store of useful knowledge, to be taught con-
cerning Messiah's temple and Jehovah's altar. It is
good for the Christian searching out the ways of God
with man; for the worldling seeking the sublime and the
beautiful; for the philosopher craving all knowledge that
is high and ennobling — to be enlightened upon a topic
like this.

THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

0, WEARY hearts, so worn and desolate !

Torn from their native land, from ruined homes,

From desecrated shrines. 0, hapless fate !

Better the solitude of Judah's tombs

Than all that Judah's foemen can bestow.

In the far land, where tuneless waters flow,

Along the sad Euphrates, as they sigh,

" Jerusalem ! " " Jerusalem ! " they cry,

" When we forget thee, city of our love,

May He forget, whose city is above ;

And when we fail to speak thy matchless fame,

May He consign us to enduring shame!"

0, joyful spirits, now so bright and free,

Amidst the hallowed palm-trees of the west!

No more the exiles' want and misery,

The tuneless waters and the homes unblest;

Remember Sion now, her ruined shrine,

And take each manly form, the work divine;

Plant the foundation-stone; erect the spire

That shall send back in light the eastern fire;

Set up the altar, let the victim bleed,

To expiate each impious word and deed;

And tell the nations, when to Sion come,

" The Lord is God ; He brought His people home I "

.THE EOYAL AECH MASOK

THE THEORY OF THE DEGREE OF ROYAL
ARCH MASON.

WHATEVER degree of popularity the preceding De-
grees of Mark Master and Most Excellent Master may
have acquired, on account of their beauty of drama,
their humane covenants, and the wisdom with which their
lectures are framed, they must surrender the palm in all
these respects to the one now before us, that of ROYAL
ARCH MASON. . Mr. Webb, who was mainly instrumental
in introducing it, in its present form, into this country,
says, in terms almost extravagant :

"It is indescribably more august, sublime, and im-
portant than all which precede it. It is the summit and
perfection of ancient Masonry. It impresses on our
mind a belief of the being and existence of a Supreme
Deity, without beginning of days or end of years, and
reminds us of the reverence due to His holy name."

To understand properly the theory of this elaborate
and beautiful Degree, we must recall to mind the his-
torical fact, more minutely described further on, that the
temple of King Solomon, whose construction forms the

141

142 THE EOYAL ARCH MASON.

subject-matter of the several Degrees of Entered Ap-
prentice, Fellow Craft, Master Mason, Mark Master,
and Most Excellent Master, was totally destroyed and
leveled to its foundation by the Chaldeans, under Nebu-
chadnezzar, four hundred and nine years after its com-
pletion and dedication. The Jewish nation was carried
into captivity to Babylon, where they remained for fifty-
two years. Then a portion of them, led by Zerubbabel,
returned to Jerusalem, by permission of the reigning
king, and rebuilt the temple. This rebuilding, including
the national history from the destruction of the first
temple, nineteen years before, constitutes the basis of
the ROYAL ARCH DEGREE. It can readily be seen, that
in this broad field the ritualist had stirring matter to his
hand; the destruction of the temple and city; the la-
mentable journey of eight hundred miles into captivity;
the mournful exile, which even the singing of " the songs
of Sion" could not enliven ; the joyful return westward,
when the days of captivity were ended; and the devoted,
self-sacrificing labors of the reconstruction — all thesej
•with subsidiary themes, which the genius of the ritual-
ist could so readily intersperse, make up the grandest
display of which the science of Freemasonry, ancient or
modern, admits.

THE BANNERS OF THE TRIBES.

The grand march of the Israelites through the wilder-
ness from Egypt to Canaan was conducted with an order
and system truly admirable. Each tribe had a banner,
with distinctive devices borrowed from the imagery em-
ployed in the death-bed prophecy of Jacob, (Gen. xlix.)

THE BANNERS OF THE TRIBES. 143

As these banners are of practical application in the in-
structions of the ROYAL ARCH MASON, we give them here
in some detail.

1. REUBEN. — Jacob said of Reuben, "Thou art my
first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength,
the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power."
The emblem inscribed on the banner of Reuben was that
of a young man in the prime of his strength. The place
of Reuben in the desert-encampment was on the south
side. Simeon and Gad were his supporters. In the
division of Canaan, the tribe of Reuben was stationed in
the south-east, directly east of the Dead Sea.

2. SIMEON. — Jacob said of Simeon, " Instruments of
cruelty are in his habitation. Cursed be his anger, for
it was fierce ; and his wrath, for it was cruel." The
emblem inscribed on the banner of Simeon was an instru-
ment of war. The place of Simeon in the desert-encamp-
ment was as a supporter of Reuben, on the south side.
In the division of Canaan, the tribe of Simeon was sta-
tioned in the south-west, on. the Mediterranean coast.

3. LEVI. — Jacob coupled Levi with Simeon in his
stern rebuke, quoted above. The emblem inscribed on
the banner of. Levi was like that of Simeon, an instru-
ment of war. This tribe, being made the sacerdotal
tribe, its place in the desert-encampment was in the
center, with the tabernacle of the congregation. In the
division of Canaan, forty-eight towns and cities, with
their suburbs, were allotted to Levi.

4. JUDAH. — Jacob said of Judah, "Thou art he whom
thy brethren shall praise ; thy hand shall be in the neck
of thine enemies : thy father's children shall bow down
before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp. He couched as

144 THE ROYAL AKCH MASON.

a lion, and as an old lion." The emblem incribed on
the banner of Judah was a couching lion under a crown
and scepter. The place of Judah in the desert-encamp-
ment was on the east side. Issachar and Zebulun were
his supporters. In the division of Canaan, the tribe of
Judah was stationed in the south.

5. ZEBULUN. — Jacob said of Zebulun, " He shall dwell
at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for a haven of
ships." The emblem inscribed on the banner of Zebu-
lun was a 'ship. The place of Zebulun in the desert-
encampment was as a supporter of Judah, in the east.
In the division of Canaan, the tribe of Zebulun was sta-
tioned on the west of the Sea of Galilee.

6. ISSACHAR. — Jacob said of Issachar, " He is a strong
ass, couching down between two burdens." The emblem
inscribed on the banner of Issachar was a strong ass,
couching between two burdens. The place of Issachar in
the desert-encampment was as a supporter of Judah, in
the east. In the division of Canaan, the tribe of Issa-
char was stationed south of • Zebulun, on the Plain of
Esdrelon.

7. DAN. — Jacob said of Dan, "Dan shall judge his
people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a
serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth
the horse-heels, so that his rider shall fall backward."
The emblem inscribed on the banner of Dan was a ser-
pent biting the heels of a mounted horse. The place of
Dan in the desert-encampment was on the north side,
Asher and Naphtali being his supporters. In the divi-
sion of Canaan, the tribe of Dan was stationed north of
Simeon, on the Mediterranean coast.

8. GAD. — Jacob said of Gad, " A troop shall overcome

THE BANNERS OF THE TRIBES. 145

him, but he shall overcome at the last." The emblem
inscribed on the banner of Gad was a troop of horsemen.
The place of Gad in the desert-encampment was as a
supporter of Reuben, in the south. In the division of
Canaan, the tribe of Gad was stationed north of Reuben,
east of the Jordan.

9. ASHER. — Jacob said of Asher, " Out of Asher his
bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties."
The emblem inscribed on the banner of Asher was a
prolific tree. The place of Asher in the desert-encamp-
ment was as a supporter of Dan, in the north. In the
division of Canaan, the tribe of Asher was stationed in
the north-west, along the Mediterranean coast.

10. NAPHTALI. — Jacob said of Naphtali, "Naphtali is
a hind let loose : he giveth goodly words." The emblem
inscribed on the banner of Naphtali was a hind let loose.
The place of Naphtali in the desert-encampment was as
a supporter of Dan, in the north. Jn the division of
Canaan, the tribe of Naphtali was stationed in the north.

11. JOSEPH. — Jacob said of Joseph, " Joseph is a
fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a wall, whose
branches run over the wall. His bow abode in strength,
and the arms of his hands were made strong by the
hands of the mighty God of Jacob. The blessings of
thy father shall be on the head of Joseph." The em-
blem inscribed on the banners of the two sons of Joseph,
JEphraim and Manasseh, was luxuriant branches overrun-
ning a wall. The place of Ephraim in the desert-en-
campment was on the west. Manasseh and Benjamin
were his supporters. In the division of Canaan, the
tribe of Ephraim was stationed north of Benjamin, run-
ning from the Jordan to the Mediterranean coast. The

10

146 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

tribe of Manasseh had two portions, one occupying tho
space between Ephraim and Tssachat; the other north
of Gad, and extending along the east of the Sea of
Galilee to the base of Mount Herroon.

12. BENJAMIN. — Jacob said of Benjamin, " Benjamin
shall raven as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour
the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil." The
emblem inscribed on the banner of Benjamin was a
ravening wolf. The place of Benjamin in the desert-
encampment was as a supporter of Ephraim, in the west.
In the division of Canaan, the tribe of Benjamin was
stationed north of Judah.

In the prophecy of Moses, delivered just before hia
death, (Deut. xxxiii,) he reiterates these blessings, elab-
orating upon the symbolisms of Jacob, and giving strange*
beauty to the definitions of these devices.

The groupings of the twelve standards deserve our
attention. It will be seen by the sketch we have given,
and by an examination of the 10th chapter of Numbers,
that the general order of march was as follows :

I. Judah.
Issachar. Zebulun.

II. Keuben.

Simeon. Gad.

Levi.

III. Ephraim.
Manasseh. • Benjamin.

IV. Dan.
Asher. Naphtali,

THE SILVER TRUMPETS. 147

This brings together the banners in groups, thus :
I. Ass, lion, ship.

II. Dagger, young man, troop of horse.
Sword.

III. Fruitful bough, fruitful bough, wolf.

IV. Goodly tree, serpent and horse, bounding hart.

The respective numbers of the twelve tribes thus ar-
rayed for march or battle are thus given, (Num. iii) :

1 54,400 74,600 57,400

II 59,300 46,500 45,650

III 32,200 40,500 35,400

IV 41,500 62,700 53,400

THE SILVER TRUMPETS. — The military signals for this
grand army were made upon two silver trumpets. These
were made of "an whole piece" of metal, and used for
the calling of the assembly and for the journeying of the
camps.

A certain signal upon one trumpet was for the princes,
"the heads of the thousands of Israel," to assemble
themselves together " at the, door of the tabernacle of
the congregation."

An alarm blast, blown once, was the signal for Judah,
Issachar, and Zebulun, who were on the east, to move
forward.

An alarm blast, blown twice, was the signal for Reuben,
Simeon, and Gad, who were on the south, to move for-
ward. But when the congregation was to be gathered
together, they should blow, but should not sound an
alarm. The sons of Aaron, the priests, should blow with
the trumpets, and they should be to them " for an ordi-
nance forever, throughout their generations."

148 THE EOYAL ARCH MASON.

LET YOUH LIGHT SHINE

" Let your light shine," the Master said,

To bless benighted man;
The light and truth my Word hath spread,

Are yours to spread again."

We come. 0 Lord, with willing mind,

That knowledge to display;
Enlighten us, by nature blind,

And gladly we'll obey.

THE VEILS OF THE TABERNACLE.

In the American system of the ROYAL ARCH, great
prominence is given to the veils or curtains of the Tab-
ernacle. These are made and set up, as nearly as pos-
sible, in imitation of those prepared in the wilderness by
direct inspiration from God; also, those afterward con-
structed under the directions of Solomon, of which the
description is, "He made the veil of blue, and purple, and
crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubim thereon."
(2 Chron., iii.)

The Tabernacle, of which the veils or curtains were
used as drapery, was built for God, partly to be the pal-
ace of his presence as the King of Israel, and partly as
the place of the most solemn acts of public worship. It
was constructed with extraordinary magnificence in every
part, according to the express instruction of Jehovah,
and evidently with typical design and use. The means
of building it were furnished in superabundance by the
voluntary contributions of the people. The oversight of
the work was intrusted to Bezaleel and Aholiab, each of

THE VEILS OF THE TABERNACLE. 149

whom was endowed with supernatural skill for that pur-
pose, and who bore the same relation to this structure
which the Operative Grand Master Hiram bore to the
Temple of Solomon. The plan, size, material, furniture,
etc., to the most minute particulars, were revealed to
Moses upon Mount Sinai. The whole space inclosed for
the Tabernacle was one hundred and fifty feet by sev-
enty-five. This space was surrounded by fine linen cur-
tains, nearly eight feet in height, and hung from brazen
•or copper pillars. They were secured by rods or cords,
fastened to the top, and stretched so as to fasten to
wooden or metal pins in the ground. Twenty of these
pillars or columns were on each side, and ten on each
end. The entrance or gate of the court was closed with
a curtain of different color and texture from the rest,
stretched on four of the pillars, and so hung as to be
drawn up or let down at pleasure.

At the upper part or western end of this inclosure,
and facing the entrance, was the Tabernacle, properly so
called, of which all that we have thus far described was
but the fencing. This Tabernacle proper was forty-five
by fifteen feet, and fifteen feet high. The sides and rear
were inclosed with boards, the front was open. Over
the top was thrown a rich, gorgeous fabric, of various
materials, the connection and disposition of which, as well
as of the other parts of the covering, were prescribed
with the utmost minuteness. The entrance or door of
the Tabernacle was covered with a beautifully-embroid-
ered curtain, suspended on five columns. The interior
was subdivided into two apartments, and separated, each
from the other, by a richly-wrought curtain, hanging
entirely across, and reaching from the top to the bot-

150 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

torn. This was called the veil, or second veil, because
the first entrance was also curtained. The outer apart-
ment was called the Holy Place or Sanctuary, or the
first Tabernacle, and the inner was the second Taber-
nacle or the Most Holy Place, or the Holiest of all.
The Tabernacle and its court were finished with perfect
exactness, according to the pattern or model supernatu-
rally revealed to Moses. And it is estimated that the
silver and gold used in its construction, to say nothing
of the brass or copper, the wood, the curtains and can-
opies, the furniture, etc., amounted to an almost incred-
ible sum. When it was finished, it was consecrated, with
very solemn and imposing rites, to the service of Jehovah.

As all this was used, with more or less exactness, in
the construction of Solomon's Temple, afterward in that
by Zerubbabel, of which the Degree of ROYAL ARCH
MASON particularly treats, and still later in that by
Herod, made forever memorable by the visits of Jesus
Christ, a sketch of the use and history of the first Tab-
ernacle is appended:

While passing through the wilderness, the Tabernacle
was always pitched in the midst of the camp. The tents
of the Levites and priests surrounded it in appointed
order, and at some distance from them the residue of the
tribes, in four great divisions, consisting of three tribes
each, and each division with its appropriate name and
standard, or banner. On the east was Judah, assisted
by Issachar and Zebulun; on the south Reuben, assisted
by Simeon and Gad; on the west Ephraim, assisted by
Manasseh and Benjamin; on the north Dan, assisted by
Asher and Naphtali. The symbolical banners, relative

THE HUMAN BODY A TABERNACLE. 151

numbers of the tribes, etc., are minutely given upon
another page in this volume.

The Tabernacle and its furniture were so constructed
as to be conveniently taken down, transported, and set
up again; and particular individuals or classes had their
respective duties assigned to them. Every encampment,
to the number of forty-two, and every removal, and even
the order of the march, were directed expressly by Jeho-
vah. On the day the Tabernacle was completed, God
revealed himself in a cloud which overshadowed and
filled it. By this cloud assuming the shape of a pillar
or column, their subsequent course was governed. When
it rested over the tent, the people always rested; and
when it moved, the Tabernacle was taken down, and the
entire host of Israel followed wherever it led. In the
night this cloud became bright, like a pillar of fire, and
preceded them in like manner.

When the journeyings of the people ended, and they
entered Canaan, the Tabernacle was erected at Gilgal,
where it continued until the country was subdued; thenco
it was removed to Shiloh, where it stood between three
hundred and four hundred years. It was thence removed
to Nob, and thence, in the reign of David, to Gibeon,
where it stood at the commencement of Solomon's reign.
When the Temple was finished, the sacred fabric, with
its vessels and furniture, described on another page, was
removed into it; and there its history is lost.

THE HUMAN BODY A TABERNACLE. — It is a common
and beautiful figure of speech, especially in the New
Testament, to describe the human body as a tabernacle
of clay. One of the Christian poets carries the allegory

152 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

to a charming point when he describes the pious man as
nightly pitching his tent

"A day's inarch nearer home."

In the same spirit the following lines have been com-
posed:

The Craft, in days gone by,

Drew from their mystery
The mightiest truths God ever gave to men;

They whispered in the ear

Bowed down with solemn fear,
"The dead, the buried dead, shall live again 1"

0 wondrous, wondrous Word !
i No other rites afford
This precious heritage, this matchless truth;

Though gone from weeping eyes,

Though in the dust he lies,
Our friend, our brother, shall renew his youth.

And we who yet remain,

Shall meet our dead again —
Shall give the hand that thrilled within our grasp

The token of our faith,

Unchanged by time and death, •
And breast to breast his faithful form shall clasp.

But who, 0 gracious God,

The power shall afford ?
Who, with omnipotence, shall break the tomb f

What Morning Star shall rise

To chase from sealed eyes
The long-oppressing darkness and the gloom?

Lo ! at the mystic shrine
The answer — 'tis Divine;
Lo! where the tracing-board doth plainly tell:

THE ALTAB. 153

"Over the horrid tomb,
Its bondage and its gloom,
The Lion of the Tribe of Judali shall prevail!"

Then hopefully we bend

Above our sleeping friend,
And, hopeful, cast the green sprigs o'er his head;

'T is but a fleeting hour —

The Omnipotent hath power,
And He will raise our brother from the dead.

THE ALTAE,

The use of the Altar in the ceremonies of the ROYAL
ARCH is even more impressive than in other grades.
Under the Jewish law, an altar was a structure appro-
priated exclusively to the offering of sacrifices. Though
sacrifices were offered before the Flood, the word altar
does not occur until the time of Noah's departure from
the Ark.

Altars were of various forms, and at first very rude in
their construction, being nothing more, probably, than a
square heap of stones or a mound of earth. The altar
upon which Jacob made an offering at Bethel was the
single stone which had served him for a pillow during
the night. The altar which Moses was commanded to
build was to be made of earth ; or, if made of stone, it
was expressly required to be rough, the use of a tool
being regarded as polluting. It was also to be without
steps.

In the ancient patterns of altars, although the struc-*
tures are different, yet we observe upon the most of them
a projection upward at each corner, representing the true

154 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

figure of the. horns, used, probably, to confine the victims.
This should be imitated upon the Masonic Altar.

The altars required in the Jewish worship, from which
so much of the allegory of the ROYAL ARCH is borrowed,
were the Altar of Burnt-offering, or the Brazen Altar.
and the Altar of Incense, or the Golden Altar. The first
stood directly in front of the principal entrance of the
Tabernacle in the wilderness. It was made of shittim-
wood, which is doubtless the Masonic Acacia, one of the
llnest emblems upon the Trestle-board of Freemasonry.
It was seven feet six inches square, and four feet six
inches high. It was hollow, and covered or overlaid with
plates of brass. The horns upon each corner were of
wood, overlaid in the same way. A grate or net-work
of brass was also attached to it, either to hold the fire
or to support a hearth of earth. The furniture of the
altar was all of brass, and consisted of a shovel, a pan,
skins or vessels for receiving the blood of the victims,
and hooks for turning the sacrifice. At each corner of
the altar was a brass ring, and there were also two staves
or rods, overlaid with brass, which passed through these
rings, and served for carrying the altar from place to
place.

The fire used upon this altar was divinely sent and
perpetually maintained. The altar was a place of con-
stant sacrifice; fresh blood was shed upon it continually,
and the smoke of the burning sacrifice ascended up with-
out interruption toward heaven. In the first Temple the
Altar of Burnt- offering occupied the same relative posi-
tion as in the Tabernacle : it was thirty feet square, and
fifteen feet high. In the Temple of Zerubbabel it was
still larger and more beautiful than in the first.

THE BURNING BUSH. 155

The Altar of Incense stood within the Holy Place, near
the inmost veil. It was eighteen inches square, and twice
as high, constructed like the other. The top, sides, and
horns were overlaid with pure gold, and it was finished
around the upper surface with a crown or border. The
rings and rods were like the other, gold being used instead
of brass. Incense was burned every morning and even-
ing upon it, but no other offerings. Only once a year,
when the Priest made atonement, was it stained with
blood.

THE BURNING BUSH.

There are few incidents in the early Scriptures more
remarkable or significant than that in which the emblem
of the Burning Bush figures. It is described in the
third chapter of Exodus :

"Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-
law, the priest of Midian : and he led the flock to the
back side of the desert, and came to the mountain of
God, even to Horeb.

"And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a
flame of fire out of the midst of a bush : and he looked,
and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was
not consumed.

"And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this
great sight, why the bush is not burnt.

"And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see,
God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and
said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.

"And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy

156 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thoti
standest is holy ground.

"Moreover he said, I am the GoS of thy father, the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob. And Moses hid his face : for he was afraid to
look upon God."

This remarkable display of Omnipotent power was the
preamble to a most important declaration to Moses ; viz.,
that God had looked with a pitying eye upon the sorrows
of his people, bondsmen in Egypt ; that the time of their
deliverance was now nigh at hand, and that he, Moses,
was the chosen instrument in the hand of God to bring
them forth from slavery.

Perhaps the ineffable brightness of the Godhead was
never so clearly poured upon mortal vision as in that
memorable transaction which this symbol is designed to
signify. We know that " no man can see God face to
face and live;" therefore the prophet hid his face, unable
to sustain the bright effulgence of uncreated glory. It
is but a natural deduction, from this circumstance, to
teach that, in order to gain admission into the heavenly
mount, burning with far greater brilliancy than that
which dazzled the wanderer on the back side of the
desert, we must be purified by fire.

As this was the beginning of the career of Moses as
the Lawgiver and Leader of the hosts of Israel, it will
be proper to add that the history of his official life for
the forty years following is the history of the Jewish
nation from the close of their bondage in Egypt to their
approach to the land of promise. The miracles God
wrought by his hands ; his frequent opportunities of

THE BURNING BUSH. 157

communing immediately with* the Divine Majesty; the
wonderful displays he witnessed of the power and glory
of Jehovah, and his connection with the grand and signi-
ficant system of religious rites and ceremonies, which is
called after him the Mosaic ritual or dispensation; the
severity of the rebukes he suifered in consequence of a
single sinful act ; his extraordinary meekness ; the singu-
lar manner of his death ; and the fact that he is the his-
torian of ages and events so remote and so intensely
interesting to us in our various relations, prospects, and '
circumstances, all combine to make him, perhaps, the
most extraordinary man that ever lived.

There is one use to be made of the Burning Bush as
an emblem, too direct and striking to be overlooked.
As this Bush, although on fire, was not consumed, so the
Church of God, and, in the same allegory, the Masonic
institution, though, from age to age, burning under the
fires of persecution, have never been consumed. Nor
can they be. God is in them — " the God of Abraham,
and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" — and they
can not be consumed.. In the Masons' Lodge His Word
lies open, the center of attraction, the object to which
all entering must approach. In the east of the Lodge,
His initial shines forth, catching the eye of one entering
when he raises it from the open Word. His name is
ever invoked in prayers, covenants, lectures, instruc-
tions. This, Bush, though burning, can never be con-
sumed while God is in it.

Too much can not be written to impress on the minds
of members of the Masonic institution, that without this
theory of the continued presence of God in the meetings
of the Craft, the whole structure, so elaborately con-

l58 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

etructed by the fathers, afld cemented from age to age
by the devotion of the members, must fall to the ground.
Without this theory, much of the emblems and other in-
structions are without meaning. The following lines,
written for the consecration service of a Masonic body,
are appropriate here :

Lo, God is here ! our prayers prevail ;

In deeper reverence adore;
Ask freely now, he will not fail

His largest, richest gifts to pour.

Ask by these emblems, old and true ;

Ask by the memories of the past;
Ask by his own great name, for, lo,

His every promise there is cast!

Ask WISDOM, 'tis the chiefest thing;

Ask STRENGTH, such strength as God may yield;
Ask BEAUTY from his throne to spring,

And grace the temple as we build.

Lord God most High, our Lodge we veil 1

'Tis consecrate with ancient care;
0, let thy Spirit ever dwell,

And guide the loving builders here 1

THE UNITY OF FKEEMASONS.

In close connection with the above remarks, follow
those upon the unity of the Craft. This is an immediate
effect of the presence of God in the Burning Bush. The
following comment upon the 133d Psalm, so wonderfully
adapted to Masonic use in every grade, is appended as
he best effort of the sort extant :

THE UNITY OF FREEMASONS.

"We s&e in verse 1 what it is we are commanded; viz.,
to dwell together in unity. Not only not to quarrel and
devour each other, but to delight in each other with
mutual endearments, and promote each other's welfare
with mutual services. See, also, how commendable it is :
4 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is.' Good in
itself, because agreeable to God's will — the conformity
of earth to heaven. Good for us, for our honor and
comfort; pleasant and pleasing to God and good men.
A rare thing, and therefore commendable. An amiable
thing, that will attract our hearts. An exemplary thing,
which, where it is, is to be imitated by us with holy
emulation.

" The pleasantness of it is illustrated in verse 2. It
is fragrant as the holy anointing oil which was strongly
perfumed, and diffused its odors, to the great delight of
all the bystanders, when it was poured upon the head of
Aaron or his successor, the high-priest, so plentifully
that it ran down the face, even to the tfollar or binding
of the garment. This was holy ointment ; such must our
brotherly love be with a pure heart devoted to God.
We must love them that are begotten ' for His sake
that begat.3 This ointment was a composition made up
by a Divine dispensatory. God appointed the ingre-
dients and the quantities. Thus believers are ' taught,
of God to love one another.' It is a grace of His work-
ing in us.

" It was very precious, and the like of it was not to
be made for any common use. Thus holy love is, in the
sight of God, of great price ; and that is precious indeed
which is so in God's sight. It was grateful both to
Aaron himself and to all about him. So is holy love;

l.t)0 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

it is like ' ointment and perfume which rejoice the heart/
Aaron and his sons were not admitted to minister unto
the Lord till they were anointed with this ointment ; nor
are our services acceptable to God without this holy
love. If we have it not, we are nothing.

" It is said in the third verse to be fructifying. It is
profitable as well as pleasing. It is 'as the dew;' it
brings abundance of blessings along with it, as numerous
as the drops of dew. It cools the scorching heat of
men's passions as the evening dews cool the air and re-
fresh the earth. It contributes very much to our fruit-
fulness in every thing that is good. It moistens the
heart, and makes it tender and fit to receive the good
seed of the Word ; as, on the contrary, malice and bit-
terness unfit us to receive it. It is ' as the dew of Her-
nion,' a common hill; for brotherly love is the beauty
and benefit of civil societies ; < and as the dew tbat de-
scencled upon the mountains of Zion/ a holy liili, for it
contributes greatly to the fruitfulness of sacred societies.
Both Hermon and Zion will wither without this dew. It
is said of the dew, * that it tarrieth not for man, nor
waiteth for the sons of men.' Nor should our love for
our brethren stay for theirs to us — that is publican's
love — but go before it ; that is Divine Z0t j.

" The proof of the excellency of brotherly love is given
in the fourth verse. Loving people are blessed people ;
for they are blessed of God, and therefore blessed indeed.
There where brethren dwell together in unity the Lord
commands the blessing, a complicated blessing, including
all blessings. It is God's prerogative to command the
blessings ; man can but beg a blessing. Blessings/ ac-
cording to the promise, are commanded blessings, for

THE LAND OF PALESTINE, 161

He has ' commanded His covenant forever/ Blessings
that take effect are commanded blessings, for ' He speaks,
and it is done.'

" They are everlastingly blessed. The blessing which
God commands on them that dwell in love is 6 life for
evermore ;' that is the blessing of blessings. They that
dwell in love not only dwell in God, but do already dwell
in heaven. As the perfection of love is the blessedness
of heaven, so the sincerity of love is the earnest of
that blessedness. They that live in love and peace,
shall have the God of love and peace with them now,
and they shall be with him shortly, with him forever, in
the world of love and peace. How good, then, it is, and
how pleasant ! "

THE LAND OF PALESTINE.

All the localities described in the Masonic lectures
are connected with Palestine or the countries — Egypt
and Chaldea — contiguous thereto. This makes it neces-
sary, in a course of instruction like this, to give a sketch
of what is familiarly termed " the Holy Land."

The extreme length of the country, measured from Dan
to Beersheba, is about one hundred and eighty miles.
Its average breadth is fifty, from the Mediterranean Sea
to the deserts on the east. The area of the country is
not far from twelve thousand miles, which is about the
size of Vermont, to which State .it also approximates in
shape and ruggedness.

There is no district on the face of the earth that con-
tains so many and such sudden transitions as Palestine.
It is at once a land of mountains, plains, and valleys.
11

162 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

In the north, the Lebanon Mountains divide into two
parallel ranges. The western range has summits of
thirteen thousand feet. It is broken by the River
Leontes, opposite Tyre ; decreases in height but ex-
pands in breadth to Nazareth, where it is again broken
by the Plain of Esdrselon. Rising again into the hills
of Samaria, this range continues thirty-three miles, and
is, for *the third time, broken by the Plain of Shechem,
near Mount Gerizim. Rising again into the hills of
Ephraim, of Benjamin, and of Judah, it finally termin-
ates in the deserts to the south.

The eastern range includes Mount Hermon, ten thou-
sand feet high ; sweeps from thence round the Sea of
Galilee eastward into the mountains of Bashan, Gilead,
Ammon, Moab, and Edom, and terminates in the hills
of Arabia Petrea, at the head of the Bay of Akabah.
These two parallel ranges, covering, as they do, four-
fifths of the whole country, form the most prominent
features in Palestine. The valley that separates them,
called Coelesyria, is three hundred and fifty miles in
length, and from seven to ten miles broad, serving as
the bed of the Orontes, the Litany, and the Jordan.

The greater portion of the towns and cities of Pales-
tine were situated in the hilly country. This was for
protection, in a country always subject to invasion.
Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, Bethel, Sliiloh, and Sa-
maria are instances of this.

Although at present Palestine is but thinly inhabited,
its soil poorly cultivated, and the state of society uncivil-
ized in the extreme, yet* in the days when the name and
the law of God were respected, this was one of the most
populous, civilized, and fruitful nations upon earth.

THE LAND OF PALESTINE. 163

There is almost an air of extravagance in the inspired
description of Palestine. Its marvelous richness ; its
cattle upon a thousand hills ; its metallic wealth ; its
abounding pastures ; its people, numerous, strong, and
respected throughout the earth, all these combined to
make it the chosen nation of the world. The hills were
terraced to their very tops for purposes of cultivation.
The numerous springs and fountains were used to irri-
gate, to the last drop, the soil around. The rains* of
heaven were collected in great pools and cisterns, of
which the remains every-where attract the eye to the
present day. And, under the guidance of the wisest
sages, the arts of agriculture, commerce, and architect-
ure made Palestine a coveted land, ages before Greece
and Rome sprung from obscurity.

Such was the beautiful territory from which the peo-
ple, consequent upon their conquest by Nebuchadnezzar,
were banished, to become exiles in an unfriendly land.*
The story of their calamity is a sad one. Divided into
two nations, under Rehoboam, B. C. 971, the national
power and reputation of Israel were henceforth dimin-
ished by internecine wars. Shishak, King of Egypt, in-
vaded the country only foul' years after the death of Solo-
mon, captured Jerusalem, and plundered the Temple.
One hundred and forty-five years afterward, the northern
tribes invaded the southern, captured Jerusalem, and
inflicted great destruction upon it. From these misfor-
tunes, however, Judah had recovered, when, in the year
B. C. 588, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, assisted
by all the surrounding nations, who were his tributaries,
brought overwhelming numbers against Judah, and it
succumbed. The Scriptural account is as follows :

f-0- THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

" Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he
began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jeru-
salem : and he did that which was evil in the sight of the
Lord his God.

" Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar, King of
Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to-
Babylon.

" Nebuchadnezzar also carried off the vessels of the
house of the Lord to Babylon, and put them in his
temple at Babylon.

"Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in
Jerusalem : and he did that which was evil in the sight
of the Lord.

"And King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to
Babylon, with 'the goodly vessels of the house of the
Lord, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah
and Jerusalem,

"Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he
began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.

"And he did that which was evil in the sight of the
Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah
the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord.

"And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar,
who had made him swear ly God: but he stiffened his
neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord
God of Israel.

" Moreover all the chief of the priests, and r the
people, transgressed very much after all the abomina-
tions of the heathen ; and polluted the house of the Lord
which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

" And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by

THE LAND OF PALESTINE. 165

his mer^engers, rising up betimes, and sending ; because
he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-
place :

" But they mocked the messengers of God, and de-
spised his words, and misused his prophets, until the
wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was
no remedy.

" Therefore he brought upon them the King of the
Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in
the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion
upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped
for age : he gave them all into his hand.

"And all the vessels of the house of God, great and
small, and the treasures of the house of the king and
of his princes ; all these he brought to Babylon.

"And they burnt the house of God, and brake down
the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof
with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.

"All them that had escaped from the sword carried
he away to Babylon ; where they were servants to him
and to his sons, until the reign of the kingdom of Persia :

"To fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of
Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths : for
as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfill
threescore and ten years." — 2 Chron., xxxvi.

In the 2d Book of Kings, further particulars of this
terrible and crushing calamity are given. The siege of
Jerusalem lasted eighteen months :

" The famine prevailed in the city, and there was no
bread for the people of the land.

10*5 THE ROYAL ARCH MAS05.

" And the city was broken up, and all the men of war
tied by night by the way of the gate between two walls,
which is by the king's garden : and the king (Zedekiah)
went the way toward the plain (of Jericho).

"And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the
king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho : and all
his army were scattered from him.

" So they took the king, and brought him up to the
king of Babylon to Riblah ; and they gave judgment upon
him.

"And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes,
and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with
fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.'7

The great pillars, Jachin and Boaz, which stood 'east-
ward from the Temple, were broken in pieces, and
carried to Babylon ; the better portion of the people
taken into exile, and the poor of the land only left to
be vine-dressers and husbandmen. Thus lay the Holy
Land — the kingdom extinct, the country Wasted, the
fenced cities dismantled, and the nation in captivity. A
provincial government was established, under the Baby-
lonish government. This event occurred four hundred
and sixty-eight years after David began to reign in
Hebron, threp hundred and eighty-eight years after the
revolt of the ten tribes under Rehoboam, and one hun-
dred and thirty-four years after the downfall of the rival
nation thus formed.

The journey of the exiles to Babylon was, upon some
accounts, the most pathetic event recorded in the annals
of history. The distance, upon a direct line, was but
six hundred miles, but taking the journey, extended by

THE LAND OF PALESTINE. 167

the necessity of water, fuel, 'and forage, it was not less
than eight hundred. From Jerusalem, through Bethel
and Shiloh, forty miles to Samaria, was a hilly region,
hard, indeed, to the bare and lacerated feet of princes,
rulers, delicate females, and old age. A short rest in
the fertile plains of Samaria, and then another hilly
region of thirty miles was interposed to. the beautiful
plain of Esdraelon, the richest and most fertile in Pales-
tine— the scene of the national glories under Barak,
Gideon, and other mighty men of Israel. Another more
painful pilgrimage, of one hundred miles and upward
followed, to the region of Damascus. Then began the
desert, arid, torrid, and solitary. A long stretch of this,
during which thousands of the captives, doubtless, left
their bones by the wayside, brought the exiles to Pal-
myra, or Tad m or in the Wilderness. This splendid
resting-place in the desert was their last reminder of
the Jewish King Solomon, its builder.

From Palmyra, over the almost interminable deserts,
to the river Euphrates, and now the bitterness of their
journey began to be assuaged. The comforts of life
were more freely bestowed ; more attention was given
to the little ones, and to the sick. Their conquerors ap-
portioned them off, according to rules of consanguinity,
iu the fertile tracts and flourishing towns of Chaldea.
God did not forsake his people in those distant parts.
Prophets, such as Daniel and Ezekiel,' gave them com-
fortable hopes of pardon and release. Esther, one of
their kindred, was made queen, and they received great
benefits from her royal favor. In fact, their condition
was one of comparative honor and comfort. By many
stupendous miracles, their God became known and feared

168 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

throughout the empire, and by important services ren-
dered to the state by those Jews who held high offices,
the royal favor was the more readily moved toward the
nation. Their idolatry, which had been marked by the
Divine eye as the worst of the long catalogue of their
offenses, was effectually cured, and whatever faults the
Jews may have committed after their release from cap-
tivity, during the remainder of their existence as a na-
tion, that of idolatry can not be charged against them.
In our next chapter we describe their return to Jeru-
salem.

THE EETUEN HOME.

In the forty-ninth year from the destruction of Jeru-
salem, and the sixty-seventh year of the captivity, in the
year B. C. 539, the Babylonish monarchy was overthrown
by Cyrus, the young prince of Persia, commander of
the combined forces of the Medes and Persians. His
uncle, Darius, took the kingdom and thus founded the
Medo-Persian Empire, as foretold by the Prophet Daniel.
The Babylonian Empire had existed eighty-four years,
having been founded B. C. 623. Darius lived but two
years after the establishment of his power in Babylon,
dying in the sixty-ninth year of the captivity. He was
succeeded by Cyrus. This man had been distinctly men-
tioned by name in the prophecy of Isaiah, made and
recorded more than a hundred years before he was born.
It had been predicted of him that he should both over-
throw the Babylonish monarchy and restore the Jews
to their native land and their former privileges.

In the first year of the reign of Cyrus and the seven-

THE RETURN HOME. 169

tieth of the captivity, he issued a proclamation through-
out his empire, granting a release to all the Jewish cap-
tives, with full privileges to return to Palestine, rebuild
Jerusalem, and resuscitate the nation. At the same time
he restored all the sacred vessels of the Temple, which
had been carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, and made
other provisions for the immediate accomplishment of
the objects of the royal edict.

THE FIFTEEN STAGES OF THE RETURN JOURNEY. — It
is a Rabbinical tradition, that on the return journey the
people made fifteen prominent stages, each being term-
inated by a halt of sufficient duration for rest and re-
freshment : and that the short Psalms, from 120 to 134,
inclusive, were sung respectively upon those occasions.
The First Stage opens with the expression, " In my
distress I cried unto the Lord;" the Second Stage, by
this, " I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from wrhence
cometh my help ;" the Third Stage, " I was glad when
they said unto me, Let us go unto the house of the
Lord;" the Fourth Stage, "Unto Thee lift I up mine
eyes, 0 Thou that dwellest in the heavens ;" the Fifth
Stage, "If it had not been for the Lord, who was on
our side ;" the Sixth Stage, " They that trust in the
Lord, shall be as Mount Zion, which can not be removed,
but abideth forever ;" the Seventh Stage, " When the
Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like
them that dream ;" the Eighth Stage, " Except the Lord
build the house, they labor in vain that build it ;" the
Ninth Stage, "Blessed is every one that feareth the
Lord, that walketh in his ways ;" the Tenth Stage,
" Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth,
may Israel now say ;" the Eleventh Stage, " Out of the

170 THE EOYAL AKCH MASON.

deptns have I cried unto Thee, 0 Lord;" the Twelfth
Stage, " Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes
lofty ;" the Thirteenth Stage, "Lord, remember David
and all his afflictions ;" the Fourteenth Stage, " Behold
how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell to-
gether in unity ;" the Fifteenth and last Stage, " Be-
hold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord,
which by night stand in the house of the Lord."

Before following the Jews from the place of their long
exile in Chaldea, it is proper here to quote the whole of
the 137th Psalm, as giving evidence of their commend-
able constancy amidst the most untoward circumstances :

"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down; yea,
we wept, When we remembered Zion.

" We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst
thereof.

" For there they that carried us away captive required
of us a song ; and they that wasted us required of us
mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

"How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange
land?

"If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, let my right hand for-
get her cunning.

"If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to
the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above
my chief joy.

"Remember, 0 Lord, the children of Edom in the day
of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the
foundation thereof.

"0 daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed;

THE RETURN HOME. 171

happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast
served us.

" Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little
ones against the stones."

THE NATIONAL BEREAVEMENT. — The excessive sorrow
that afflicted the minds of the Jews at the loss of their
country can not be thoroughly appreciated, unless we
take into consideration the facts that these people had
possessed Palestine for twelve hundred years, counting
from the entrance of Abraham;, that their religious pol-
ity was thoroughly identified with it, and that their hopes
of the Messiah, who should restore to the world all that
had been lost in the expulsion from Eden, were locally
connected with Bethlehem-Judah, and other designated
spots. The lamentations of which the Prophet Jeremiah
was the mouthpiece are not an extravagant expression
of the national sorrow. Although uttered only as pre-
dictions, they foreshadowed the grievous facts that should
follow. In this terrible exhibit of human distress we
find such passages as these:

" How doth the city sit solitary that was full of peo-
ple ! how is she become as a widow ! She weepeth sore
in the night, and her tears are in her cheeks. All her
friends have dealt treacherously with her ; they are be-
come her enemies. She dwelleth among the heathen,
she findeth no rest. Her children are gone into cap-
tivity before the enemy. From the daughter of Zion
all her beauty is departed. Jerusalem hath grievously
sinned; therefore she is removed. All her people sigh;

172 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

they seek bread. See if there be any sorrow like unto
my sorrow. The Lord hath trodden under foot all my
mighty men in the midst of thee.

" The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of the
daughter of Zion ; he hath stretched out a line, he hath
not withdrawn his hand from destroying. The elders of
the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground and keep
silence. The children and the sucklings swoon in the
streets of the city. They say to their mothers, Where is
corn and wine? All that pass by, clap their hands at
thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of
Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The
Perfection of beauty, The Joy of the whole earth? The
tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his
mouth for thirst; the young children ask bread, and no
man breaketh it unto them. The punishment of the in-
iquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the
punishment of the sin of Sodom. They that be slain
with the sword are better than they that be slain with
hunger.

" Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to
aliens. ' We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are
as widows. Our necks are under persecution : we labor,
and have no rest. Our skin was black as an oven be-
cause of the terrible famine. They ravished the women
in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah. Princes
are hanged up by their hand : the faces of elders were
not honored. The joy of our heart is ceased ; our dance
is turned into mourning. The crown is fallen from our
head. 0 Lord, thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art
very wroth against us." — Lamentations.

THE RETURN HOME. 173

In vivid contrast with this condition of humiliation and
distress was the national joy that broke forth upon the
proclamation of Cyrus, to which the Lord stirred up
his spirit. It was in these words :

"Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of
heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and
he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem,
which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all hia
people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jeru-
salem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord
God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.
And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourn-
eth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and
with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the
free-will offering for the house of God which is in Jeru-
salem."— Ezra, i.

An expedition of the returning exiles was formed by
Zerubbabel, a descendant of the royal house of David,
and by Joshua, the high-priest. Zerubbabel was in-
vested by the king with all the functions of the Gov-
ernor of Judea. This colony amounted to about fifty
thousand persons. These took with them the vessels of
the house of the Lord, being " thirty chargers of gold, a
thousand chargers of silver, nine and twenty knives,
thirty basins of gold, silver basins of a second sort, four
hundred and ten, and other vessels a thousand. All
the vessels of gold and silver were five thousand and
four hundred." (Ezra, i.) The Jews, who for various
reasons remained behind, strengthened the hands of their

174 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

rude, zealous friends with "money, goods, beasts, and
precious things, besides, all that was willingly offered."
This made the caravan to include seven hundred and
thirty-six horses, two hundred and forty-five mules, four
hundred and thirty-five camels, and six thousand seven
hundred and twenty asses. The money contributed by
the more liberal of the Jews is summed up at sixty-one
thousand drams of gold, and five thousand pounds of
silver.

So, joyfully they set forth upon the return journey
by the same route which their sorrowing and suffering
fathers had traveled fifty-one years before. Arrived at
Palestine, their first care, after looking up their former
homes, and making necessary provisions for their future
support, was to rebuild the Temple. In the second year
of their coming, Zerubbabel and Joshua, who had taken
the supervision, set forward the workmen in the house
of God.

"And when the builders laid the foundation of the
Temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their ap-
parel, (described upon another page,) with trumpets,
and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cynbals, to
praise the Lord after the ordinance of David king of
Israel. And they sang together by course in praising
and giving thanks unto the Lord ; because he is good,
for his mercy endureth forever toward Israel. And all
the people shouted with a great shout, when ther praised
the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the
Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites,
and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that
had seen the first house, when the foundation of this

THE RETURN HOME. 175

house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice;
and many shouted aloud for joy: so that the people
could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the
noise of the weeping of the people : for the people shouted
with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off." —
Ezra, iii.

With all this favorable beginning, however, it was nine-
teen years before the cape-stone was set in the edifice.
The Samaritans, between whom and the Jews there had
long existed an implacable hatred, weakened their hands,
troubled them in building, and hired counselors against
them to frustrate their purpose, through the reign of
Cyrus and his successors to that of Darius. Ahasuerus
was moved by their malicious representations to cause
the building to cease, nor was it until the second year
of the reign of Darius that it was resumed. That mon-
arch decreed that no more hindrance should be made to
the work, but that money should be given from the royal
treasury toward the cost, and young bullocks, rams, and
lambs for the burnt-offerings: also wheat, salt, wine, and
oil. The royal edict was thus summed up :

Whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled
down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged
thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this.
And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there
destroy all kings and people, that shall put to their hand
to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at
Jerusalem. I Darius have made this decree; let it be
done with speed." — Ezra, vi.

176 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

RETURNED HOME.

Upon the last page is described the earnestness with
which the Jews acted upon the proclamation of Cyrus,
A similar zeal was aroused by the edict of Darius. To
encourage them in their work, the prophets Haggai and
Zechariah were raised up. They approached them in the
name of the God of Israel. The former severely re-
buked the disposition of the people to lie supine under
the frowns of King Ahasuerus, and commanded them,
" Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the
house," promising them the Divine aid. " I will fill this
house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The glory
of this latter house shall be greater than that of the
former."

Zechariah brought good word, and comfortable word
from God, saying :

" I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies ; mine
house shall be built in it ; my cities, through prosperity,
shall yet be spread abroad, and the Lord shall yet com-
fort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.

" The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations
of this house ; his hands shall also finish it.

"They that are far off shall come, and build in the
temple of the Lord : and ye shall know that the Lord
of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to
pass if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your
God." *

A second installment of Jews from Babylon came up,
under the command of Ezra, seventy-seven years after

RETURNED HOME. 177

the first. Ezra came with full powers from the king to
reestablish the authority of the law of Moses. This
second colony numbered about seven thousand. The
journey occupied exactly four months, by which we can
estimate the difficulties and impediments of the way,
even under favorable circumstances.

The king, Artaxerxes Longimanus, issued an edict,
exceedingly liberal in its character, and ending in these
impressive words :

"And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and
the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily
upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment,
or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment." —
Ezra, vii.

Thirteen years later, B. C. 444, the third installment
of the nation came up, under Nehemiah. He had re-
ceived intelligence at Babylon of the decline of the Jew-
ish colony, and obtained a commission from the same
monarch, Artaxerxes Longimanus, who had favored
Ezra, to visit Jerusalem and rectify the disordered state
of affairs. The walls of the city had not been rebuilt,
and although the temple was finished, and probably
walled in, yet the undefended condition of the people at
large subjected them to great reproach and persecution
from surrounding nations, the Samaritans taking the
lead. Nehemiah was appointed governor for twelve
years, with full powers to rebuild the city and restore
the ancient fortifications. His arrival was one hundred
and twelve years subsequent to that of Zerubbabel. At
.the expiration of the term of his first commission, he
12

178 THE ROYAL AKCH MASON.

was reappointed, and continued to serve in that capacity
until about the year B. C. 420. During the latter years
of his government lived Malachi, the last of the Old
Testament prophets. Besides these three principal col-
onies that returned from Babylon to repeople the land,
whose loss they had so grievously deplored, we may
justly suppose that many thousands of Jews took the
opportunity to return to their fatherland by caravans
of merchants coming from the east, or in other smaller
companies of returning Jews.

The Jewish nation continued subject to the Persian
power until its overthrow by Alexander, the Macedonian,
B. C. 331. In all, they had maintained their allegiance
to Persia two hundred and eight years. In the division
of Alexander's empire, Palestine fell to Ptolemy Lagus.
They were subject to the Greek-Egyptian and the Greek-
Syrian monarchs one hundred and fifty-eight years, and
until the year B. C. 143. Then they regained their
independence by virtue of a royal grant from Demetrius
Nicator, king of the Greek-Syrian empire, and held it
eighty years; viz., till the year B. C. 63, when Judea
was made a Roman province by Pompey. They were
still, however, permitted to have governors of their -own
nation until the time of Christ. In the year A. D. 9, a
Roman governor was appointed, tribute was paid directly
to Rome, the power of life and death was taken away,
and justice administered in the name and by the laws of
Rome. Jerusalem ceased to be the capital of Palestine.
In the year A. D. 70, the city of Jerusalem was once
more totally razed to the ground by Titus, the Roman
general, after a siege and series of assaults, in which
more than a million of Jews perished. From this stroke

RETURNED HOME. 179

the nation has never recovered. Scattered throughout
the earth, exiles, down-trodden, suffered to live in small
numbers at Jerusalem, but to enjoy no naturalization or
political rights, the Jewish people remain standing monu-
ments of the truth of Scripture. The importance of the
study of these holy books to the ROYAL ARCH MASON
can not be exaggerated.

0, early search the Scriptures! 'tis the dew

On morning leaves; 'tis the young rose's bloom;
'Tis the bright tinge of m-orning; 'tis the hue
That doth on cheek of conscious virtue come;
'Tis all that gratifies the sight,
To see this sacred Book aright.

0, fondly search the Scriptures ! 'tis the voice

Of loved ones gone forever; 'tis the song
That calls to memory childhood's perished joys
'Tis the blest anthem of the angel-throng;
'T is all that gratifies the ear,
This sacred Book aright to hear.

0, deeply search the Scriptures! 'tis the mine

Of purest gold and gems of richest sort;
'T is life's full sustenance of corn and wine ;
'Tis raiment, clean and white, from heaven brought;
'T is wealth beyond all we can crave,
This sacred Book aright to have.

For here, 0 here, the loved departed !

The Man of Sorrows, slain for us,
Speaks to the worn and broken-hearted,
And tells us, " I have borne the curse !
Redeemed thee from the power of death,
And sanctified thy parting breath."

That in bright worlds, depictured here,
Are "many mansions," ample room,

180 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

Where Christ our Savior waits to cheer,
And bid us welcome from the tomb:
Where many a friend we counted lost,
Is singing with the heavenly host.

This is the one, the appointed way,

Through which the Holy Ghost doth speak;
0, walk therein, through life's brief clay,
And treasures of salvation seek ;
Assured there is no other ford
Through Jordan's billows save THE WORD.

THE CITY OF JERUSALEM.

Jerusalem ! the City of Peace ! Zion ! the perfection
of beauty ! the joy of the whole earth ! the City of
David ! the central point of sacred history, around which
revolve all that is historical, all that is symbolical, all
that is solemn, grand, or pathetic in the dealings of God
with men. The Holy Place ! the type of a heavenly
city, upon whose eternal glories Ezeki'el, Daniel, and
John have exhausted their descriptive powers !

Jerusalem ! how vividly comes over the mind the
memory of that fine old hymn, one of the old-est in our
language, one of the finest in any language :

Jerusalem! my happy home!

0, how I long for thee !
When shall my sorrows have an end?

Thy joys when shall I see?

This was the capital of the Jewish kingdom for
eleven hundred years. It was the scene of the most
extraordinary events that have occurred in the annals

THE CITY OF JERUSALEM, 181

of the human race — events in which men and angels
have, and must forever have, the deepest interest. It
was the place selected by the Almighty for his earthly
dwelling, and here his glory was rendered visible. Here
David sat and tuned his harp, and sung the praises of
Jehovah. Hither the tribes came up, the tribes of the
Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto
the name of the Lord. Here enraptured prophets saw
bright visions of the world above, and received messages
from on high for guilty men. Here our Lord and
Savior came in the form of a servant, and groaned and
wept, and poured out his soul even unto death, to re-
deem us from sin, and to save us from the pains of hell.
Here, too, the wrath of an incensed God has fallen upon
his chosen people, and has laid waste his heritage.

No place upon earth has such a history. For three
thousand five hundred years the hills round about Jeru-
salem have been the scene of mortal strife. The echoes
of these mountains have resounded to the war-cries of
a hundred nations. Seventeen times has the city been
destroyed, and as often rebuilt — now a place of luxury
and grandeur, and now a place of silence and desola-
tion.

It was here that Melchizedek met and welcomed the
patriarch as he was returning from the defeat of the
four kings, at Hobah. Here Abraham returned, forty-
two years afterward, upon a mission the most pathetic
that can affect a parent's heart. Here David reared an
altar when the plague was stayed. And here, as the
crowning glory of all, was reared the Sacred Fane,
which is equally the object of interest to ROYAL ARCH
as to all other classes of Freemasons.

182 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

PASSING THE YEILS.

One of the most forcible and instructive lessons m the
whole Masonic system is that inculcated in the drama
of the ROYAL ARCH DEGREE, under the general term of
"Returning from Babylon to Jerusalem." Under the
guise of a difficult and painful pilgrimage, in which the
travelers are buoyed up by the sense of duty and the
hope of reward, the whole lesson of human life is con-
veyed, surrounded with trials and perplexities, but pre-
senting the highest injunctions of duty as a stimulus,
and offering the most exalted rewards at the end. It is
this which, more than any other, makes the lessons of
the ROYAL ARCH MASON sublime.

The first of the difficulties of the return journey were
the trials of the road itself. Upon other pages we have
given, in our description of the journey to Babylon,
sketches of the road rendered painful by sharp hills, arid
deserts, and interminable distances. This is equally ap-
plicable here. Although the traveler had not the fitter
accompaniments of chains, cruel guards, and hunger, yet
no one can pass over the long way of eight hundred
miles from Babylon to Jerusalem, even under favorable
circumstances, without intense suffering. The introduc-
tion of the following Psalms at this stage of the drama
is highly appropriate:

"Lord, I cry unto thee : make haste unto me; give
ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. Let my prayer
be set forth before thee as incense ; and the lifting up
of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

"Set a watch, 0 Lord, before my mouth; keep the

PASSING THE VEILS. 183

door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing,
to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity :
and let me not eat of their dainties.

"Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness:
and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil,
which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also
shall be in their calamities. When their judges are
overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words;
for they are sweet.

"Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, as
when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.
But mine eyes are unto thee, 0 God the Lord: in thee
is my trust ; leave not my soul destitute.

" Keep ni£ from the snare which they have laid foi
me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity. Let the
wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal
escape." — Psalm cxli.

"I cried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice
unto the Lord did I make my supplication. I poured
out my complaint before him ; I shewed before him my
trouble.

"When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then
thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked
have they privily laid a snare for me.

"I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there
was no man that would know me : refuge failed me ; no
man cared for my soul. I cried unto thee, 0 Lord: I
said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of
the living.

"Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low:
deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger

i^4 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

than I. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise
thy name : the righteous shall compass me about ; for
thou shalt deal bountifully with me." — Psalm cxlii.

"Hear my prayer, 0 Lord; give ear to my supplica-
tions; in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy right-
eousness. And enter not into judgment with thy serv-
ant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

"For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath
smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me
to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.
Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me ; my heart
within me is desolate.

"I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy
works; I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch
forth my hands unto thee ; my soul thirsteth after thee
as a thirsty land. Selah.

"Hear me speedily, 0 Lord: my spirit faileth; hide
not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go
down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy loving-kind-
ness in the morning, for in thee do I trust; cause me
to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up
my soul unto thee. Deliver me, 0 Lord, from mine
enemies : I flee unto thee to hide me.

"Teach me to obey thy will; for thou art my God:
thy Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

" Quicken me, 0 Lord, for thy name's sake ; for thy
righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble. And
of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them
that afflict my soul : for I am thy servant." — Psalm cxliii,

The traverse of the long and weary wilderness and

PASSING THE VEILS. 185

the mountain-passes being accomplished, trials of a moral
and religious character are suggested in the drama of the
ROYAL ARCH. So many of the Jews had intermarried
with their conquerors that great numbers of the people
had lost the distinctive characteristic of the nation — a
pure genealogy — and were necessarily rejected when
they should offer themselves for a work that admitted
none but the pure and undefiled. Before leaving Baby-
lon, careful examinations had been made of the genea-
logical claims of every family, and those whose record
was unquestioned were furnished with tests, by means
of which they should have recognition of the High-Priest
at Jerusalem. Of these the Royal Arch traditions are
full. What the nature of those tests was can not, of
course, be explained here.

Arrived at Jerusalem, where a tabernacle had been
temporarily pitched among the Temple-ruins upon the
Holy Hill, every person offering himself for the work
was subjected to necessary examinations preparatory to
his enrollment among the faithful.

Recurrence is now had to the history of Moses in his
work of convincing the Egyptians and the Hebrews of
his Divinely-appointed mission. Jehovah condescended
to bestow upon him evidences of his power ; Moses' rod
was transformed to a serpent. When we enter into the
world and discover around us the effects of the artifice
of the tempter in the garden, and when we behold this
arch-apostate transformed into a serpent, we have passed
the first veil of our existence. The serpent referred to
above was perpetuated as a Jewish symbol by Moses,
who, in a terrible irruption of those venomous creatures
into his camp, made a Brazen Serpent and set it upon

386 THE HOYAL ARCH MASON.

a pole, that it might be seen from all parts of the camp,
and then whoever was bitten was healed by simply look-
ing at the brazen figure.

A second miracle was employed by Jehovah to
strengthen the faith of Moses. He was directed to put
his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out it was
leprous as snow. On being commanded to put it the
second time into his bosom and withdraw it, it was
turned again as his other flesh. At the close of life,
when we are called from this probationary scene and
prostrated in the pallid leprosy of death, the second veil
is drawn behind us. The leprosy is a loathsome and
infectious disease, still prevalent in Oriental countries,
corresponding in its general characteristics with the lep-
rosy of former ages. The bones and the marrow are so
pervaded with the virus of the disease that the joints of
the hands and feet lose their power, the limbs of the
body fall together, and the whole system assumes a most
deformed and shocking appearance. There is at this
day a small village of lepers, numbering in all about two
hundred, on the outside of the southern wall of Jerusa-
lem, near the Sion Gate. Their homes are miserable
huts, low, dark, and loathsome. Allowed to marry only
with each other, their offspring retain their health until
arrived at the period of puberty, when the fatal disease
makes its appearance, spreads over the system, ulti-
mately reaches some vital organ, and the unhappy victim
dies.

Among the miracles by which Moses convinced Pha-
raoh of the Divine appointment of his mission, that of
taking water from the river Nile, and turning it into
blood by pouring it upon the dry land, was one of the

PASSING THE VEILS. 187

most stupendous. In the morning of the Resurrection,
when the slumbering ashes shall revive, and we learn
that the words of the woman of Tekoa are ^untrue,
wherein she said " we are as water spilt upon the ground,
which can not be gathered up," then shall the third veil
be parted from us. The effect of this miracle was tre-
mendous ; the great river of Egypt was turned to blood.

The leader and governor of the first grand colony
from Babylon was Prince Zerubbabel. In his name all
the proceedings were had; the care of the sacred vessels
intrusted to the Jews by King Cyrus, the money, pro-
visions, etc., rested upon him. It follows that none could
be accepted at Jerusalem save those who had come up
under his patronage. The righteous in the last day will
have the stamp of the signet of Heaven upon their fore-
heads, and be received by the Captain of their salvation.
The prophet Haggai gives clear evidence of the Divine
acceptance in which Zerubbabel was held when he says,
44 In that day will I take thee, 0 Zerubbabel, my servant,
the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will take thee
as a signet; for I have chosen thee." A signet was
usually a ring, with some inscription upon it, used as a
seal, by the delivery or transfer of which the highest
offices in the kingdom were bestowed. The word is used
figuratively in the Bible to denote an act, or token, or
process of confirmation.

We have already alluded to the circumstance which
had impaired the legitimacy of so many of the Jewish
people. When Esther was made Queen by the King of
Persia, though exalted to great honor, yet her line was
thus rendered illegitimate according to the Jewish theory;
her children could not inherit with their fathers. The

188 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

lineage of every family, or list of ancestors, was pre-
served by the Jews with extraordinary care — not only
because it was through Abraham that the privileges of
the Jewish Church were transmitted, but chiefly because
of the deep interest which was felt in the predictions
concerning the Messiah, and the tribe or family fr~m
which he should spring. When, therefore, any presented
themselves at the tabernacle among the ruins who could
not distinctly trace up their descent, they were scornfully
rejected. We have evidences of this in the contempt
with which the services of the Samaritans were refused
by Zerubbabel, who said : " Ye have nothing to do with
us to build our house unto our God;" and in the case of
a number of the children of priests " who sought their
register among those that were reckoned by genealogy,
but they were not found; therefore were they, as pol-
luted, put from the priesthood." — Ezra, ii.

These sharp tests to which God's people were put,
secured workmen of fidelity and zeal. No part of the
labor, however arduous, servile, or protracted, was dis-
tasteful to them, and they entered upon the work with
a determination that could have but one result — perfect
success.

THE HIGH-PRIEST, KING, AND SCRIBE.

THE HIGH-PRIEST. — The three principal officers of
the ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER, as the system is practiced
in the United States, are known as the High-Priest,
King, and Scribe. Upon the return of the captives from
Babylon, Jeshua was High-Priest, a man full of fervency

THE KING. 189

and zeal, who took a leading part at Jerusalem in re-
building the altar of the Lord, and offering burnt-offer-
ings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man
of God. It is further recorded of this devoted servant
of the Most High, that " In the second year of their
coming into the house of God at Jerusalem, in the sec-
ond month, began . . . Jeshua the son of Jozadak, . . ,
and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and up-
ward to set forward the work of the house of the Lord."
" Then stood Jeshua with his sons ... to set forward
the workmen in the house of God." — Ezra, iii.

A further instance of the enlightened zeal of Jeshua
is seen in his refusing the application of the Samaritans
and others who proffered to build the Temple with them.
The High-Priest, knowing their illegitimacy, sternly re-
plied : " Ye -have nothing to do with us to build a house
unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto
the Lord God of Israel, as Cyrus the king of Persia hath
commanded us."— Ezra, iv.

THE KING. — The King in a ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER
represents Zerubbabel, one of the most distinguished
characters described in Scripture. So prominent a part
did he take during the period under consideration, in
leading the first colony of Jews that returned from the
captivity of Babylon, in preserving the sacred vessels
intrusted by Cyrus to his charge, in laying the founda-
tion-stone and cape-stone of the Temple, and in restoring
the ancient religious rites of the nation, that the second
Temple is familiarly styled Zerubbabel'a, as the first is
called Solomon's Temple. In the prophesy of Zechariah

190 THE ROYAL AKCH

he is made the special subject of a Divine message.
" This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying,
Not by might or power, but by my spirit. Who art thou,
0 great mountain? before Zerubbabel thon shalt become
a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof
with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Moreover,
the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands
of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house;
his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that
the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who
hath despised the day of small things ? for they shall re-
joice and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerub-
babel."— Zechariah, iv.

An affecting evidence of the Divine approval of this
man is found in various passages in Haggai, a prophet
sent with cheering tidings to Jeshua and Zerubbabel at a
time when the people had begun to show signs of dis-
couragement. Concerning the latter, Haggai said: "I
will take thee, 0 Zerubbabel, my servant, saith the Lord,
and will make thee as a signet; for I have chosen thee,
saith the Lord of hosts."

THE SCRIBE. — The Scribe in a ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER,
according to the American system, represents the prophet
Haggai, to whom allusions have been made above. This
celebrated personage is supposed to have been born
during the captivity, and to have returned with Zerub-
babel from Babylon. His prophesy ranks as the thirty-
seventh in the order of the books of the Old Testament.
It is principally composed of keen reproof and affecting
exhortations respecting the building of the second tem-
ple, which the people had abandoned for fourteen or

THE SCRIBE, 191

fifteen years, because of the opposition and intrigue of
their enemies ; and it also contains predictions of Christ
and the universal establishment of his kingdom.

It is supposed that the glory of the temple, which is
predicted by Haggai with great clearness, was to be oc-
casioned by the coming of Christ; though Herod made
important alterations in it, still the temple of Zerubbabel
was always regarded as the second temple, and Christ,
the Desire of all nations, did appear and teach in it.

The Book of Haggai well deserves to be read — it is
very brief — at every meeting of a ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER.
As a specimen of the symbolical style and nervous lan-
guage with which the man of God urged forward his
companions to their duty. of rebuilding the temple and
city, see the following :

"In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in
the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord
by Haggai the prophet, saying: Thus saith the Lord of
hosts, Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,
If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and
with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil,
or any meat, shall it be holy ? And the priests answered
and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean
by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean ?
And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and
so is this nation before me, saith the Lord; and so is
every work of their hands; and that which they offer
there is unclean. And now, I pray you, consider from this
day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a
stone in the temple of the Lord: since those days were,

192 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there
were but ten; when one came to the press-fat for to
draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but
twenty. I smote you with blasting and with mildew and
with hail in all the labors of your hanc[s; yet ye turned
not to me, saith the Lord. Consider now from this day
and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the
ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of.
the Lord's temple was laid, consider it. Is the seed
yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig-tree,
and the pomegranate, and the olive-tree, hath not brought
forth: from this day will I bless you." — Haggai, ii.

OFFICIAL DUTIES. — The official duties of these three
prominent officers of the ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER respect-
ively are made as nearly as possible in analogy with
those of the Jewish dispensation. The High-Priest is
solemnly inducted with the following prayer :

"Most Holy and glorious Lord God, the Great High-
Priest of heaven and earth, we approach thee with rever-
ence, and implore thy blessings on the Companion ap-
pointed to preside over this assembly, and now prostrate
before thee. Fill his heart with fear, that his tongue and
actions may pronounce thy glory. Make him steadfast
in thy service. Grant him firmness of mind; animate his
heart and strengthen his endeavors. May he teach thy
judgments and thy laws; and may the incense he shall
put before thee, upon thine altar, prove an acceptable
sacrifice unto thee. Bless him, 0 Lord, and bless the
work of his hands. Accept us in mercy. Hear thou,
from heaven, thy dwelling-place, and forgive our trans-

OFFICIAL DUTIES. 193

gressions. Glory be to God the Father, as it was in
the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without
end. Amen."

The High-Priest is then invested with the miter,
breast-plate, and robe : the former reminding him of the
dignity of his office and its inscription, "Holiness to the
Lord" — of his dependence upon God; the breast-plate
teaching him his responsibility to the laws of Royal
Arch Masonry, and that its honor should ever be near
his heart; the robes teaching him, by their symbolical
colors, every grace and virtue that can beautify the hu-
man mind,

The King is taught by his scarlet robe, an emblem
of imperial dignity, that paternal concern which he
should feel for the welfare of his Chapter, and the ar-
dent zeal with which he should endeavor to promote its
prosperity; and by his crown, that to reign sovereign in
the hearts and affections of men is made grateful to a
generous mind, than to rule over their lives and fortunes,
and that to do this with honor and satisfaction he must
subject his own passions and prejudices to the dominion
of reason and charity.

The Scribe is taught by his purple robe, an emblem
of union, that the harmony and unanimity of the Chap-
tei must be his care, and that he must endeavor to es-
tablish a permanent union among all degrees and orders
in Masonry.

In the conclusion of the respective charges, a general
address is delivered to the officers, as follows:

"Precept and example should ever advance with equal
13

194 THE ROYAL ARCH SIASON.

pace. Those moral duties which you are required to teach
unto others you should never neglect to practice your-
selves. Do you desire that the demeanor of your equals
and inferiors toward you should be marked with defer-
ence and respect? Be sure, then, that you omit no op-
portunity of furnishing them with examples in your own
conduct toward your superiors. Do you desire to obtain
instruction from those who are more wise or better in-
formed than yourselves? Be sure, then, that you are
always ready to impart of your knowledge to those
within your sphere who stand in need of and are en-
titled to receive it. Do you desire distinction among
your Companions ? Be sure, then, that your claims to
preferment are founded upon superior attainments. Let
no ambitious passion be suffered to induce you to envy
or supplant a companion who may be considered as
better qualified for promotion than yourselves; but rather
let a laudable emulation induce you to strive to excel
each other in improvement and discipline, ever remem-
bering that he who faithfully performs his duty, even in
a subordinate or private station, is as justly entitled to
esteem and respect as he who is invested with supreme
authority."

In further allusion to these characters, the Scriptural
accounts of the office of High-Priest established him as
the head of the Jewish priesthood. All the mole de-
scendants of Aaron were by divine appointment conse-
crated to the priesthood; and the first-born of the family,
in regular succession, was consecrated in the same man-
ner to the office of High-Priest. The office was origi-
nally held for life, but this, as well as the right of the

THE SPIRIT OF THE WORK. 195

firstborn, were disregarded in the latter ages of the
Jewish nation. The High-Priest's most solemn, peculiar,
and exclusive duty was to officiate in the Most Holy
Place on the great day of atonement. He might at any
time perform the duties assigned to the ordinary priests,
but this one could be performed by himself alone. The
High-Priest is supposed to have had an assistant to oc-
cupy his place in case of his incompetency from sick-
ness, defilement, or otherwise.

The title King is that of a ruler. It is often applied
in Scripture to the chief of a tribe, or the ruler of a
single town or city. The title is preeminently applied
to Jehovah and to our blessed Savior.

The term Scribe is first given to the king's secretary
or messenger, and to such as excelled in the use of the
pen; but, in time, it came to mean simply a learned man.
It was the peculiar office of the priests and Levites not
only to study the book of the law with great diligence,
and to read and explain it to the congregation, but to
transcribe it and to multiply copies among the nation at
large. The scribes and the doctors of the law are terms
often applied to the same class of people.

THE SPIRIT OF THE WORK.

The spirit of freedom, fervency, and zeal with which
the labors of the ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER are supposed to
be conducted, is conveyed in the following extracts from
Paul's stirring exhortation to the Church at Thessalonica.
This passage is statedly used in every Chapter of ROYAL
ARCH MASONS:

196 THE EOYAL ARCH MASON.

"Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from
every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the
tradition which he received from us. For yourselves
know how ye ought to follow us : for we behaved not
ourselves disorderly among you; neither did we eat any
man's bread for naught; but wrought with labor and
travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable
to any of you: not because we have not power, but to
make ourselves an example unto you to follow us.

"For even when we were with you, this we com-
manded you, that if any would not work, neither should
he eat.

"For we hear that there are some which walk among
you disorderly, working not at all, but are busy-bodies.

"Now them that are such we command and exhort by
our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work,
and eat their own bread.

"But ye, brethren, be not weary in well-doing.

"And if any man obey not our word by this epistle,
note that man, and have no company with him, that he
may be ashamed.

"Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him
as a brother.

"Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace
always by all means. The Lord be with you all.

"The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which
is the token in every epistle : so I write.

" The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Amen." — 2 Thessalonians, iii.

These exhortations convey the whole theory of the

THE SPIRIT OF THE WORK. .197

ROYAL ARCH. The Veils of the Sanctuary, which make
so prominent a display in the Chapter, suggest the most
expansive benevolence, the most endearing union, the
most transcendent zeal, the most spotless purity. The
high value given to the Law ever open upon the Altar,
the sight of the Ark, with its impressed traditions, the
Pauline exhortations so charged with the very spirit of
Divine love — all these combine to make the dramatic ex-
ercises healthful to the soul and conscience.

The following lines are among the older odes appro-
priated to this grade:

Joy, the Sacred Law is found :

Now the Temple stands complete;
' Gladly let us gather round

Where the Pontiff holds his seat.

Now he spreads the volume wide,

Opening forth the leaves to-day;
And the Monarch by his side

Gazes on the bright display.

Joy, the Secret Vault is found ;

Full the sunbeams fall within,
Pointing darkly under ground,

To the treasure we would win.

They have brought it back to light,

And again it cheers the earth;
All its leaves are purely bright,

Thriving in their newest worth.

This shall be the sacred Mark

Which shall guide us to the skieaj

Bearing like a holy Ark
All the hearts who love to rise.

198 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

This shall be the Corner-stone
Which the builders threw away,

But was found the only one
Fitted for the Arch's stay.

This shall be the Gavel true,

At whose sound the crowd shall bend,

Giving to the Law its due;

This shall be the faithful friend.

This the Token that shall bring
Kindness to the rich and poor;

Hastening on, on angel's wing,
To the lone and darksome door.

. This shall crown the mighty Arch

When the Temple springs on high,
And the Brethren bend their march
Wafting Incense to the sky.

Then the solemn strain shall swell
From the bosom and the tongue,

And the Master's glory tell
In the harmony of song.

Here the exile, o'er the waste,

Trudging homeward shall repose;

All his toil and danger past,

Here his long sojournings close.

Entering through the Sacred Veils
To the holy cell he bends;

Then, as sinking nature fails,
Hope in glad fruition ends.

THE ROBES OF THE HIGH-PRIEST.

In our sketch of the official duties of the High-Priest,
a brief allusion was made to the emblematical bearing

THE ROBES OF THE HIGH-PRIEST. 199

rff his robes: "They taught him, by these symbolical col-
ors, every grace and virtue that can beautify the human
mind." Much is said in Scripture relative to the splen-
did and costly costume of the High-Priest. It was maeh
more magnificent than that of the inferior order of
priests. A description of it is best given in the words of
Scripture :

" And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made
clothes of service, to do service in the holy place, and
made the holy garments for Aaron; as the Lord com-
manded Moses.

"And he made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and
scarlet, and fine-twined linen.

"And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it
into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and
in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work.

"They made shoulder-pieces for it, to couple it to-
gether : by the two edges was it coupled together.

" And the curious girdle of his ephod, that was upon
it, was of the same, according to the work thereof, of
gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen ;
as the Lord commanded Moses.

"And they wrought onyx-stones inclosed in ouches
of gold, graven as signets are graven, with the names of
the children of Israel.

" And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod, that
they should be stones for a memorial to the children of
Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses.

"And he made the breast-plate of cunning work, like
the work of the ephod ; of golc^ blue, and purple, and
t, and fine twined linen.

.200 . THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

"It was four-square; they made the breast-plate
double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the
breadth thereof, being doubled." — Exodus, xxxix.

In addition to this description, which is elaborated in
the subsequent verses, we may add that the ephod con-
sisted of two plates, the one covering the back, the other
the breast, both being united upon the two shoulders.
It is sometimes described as having been thrown over
the shoulders and hanging down before, crossed upon
the breast. Upon the place where it crossed the breast
was the breast-plzlte. This was a piece of embroidered
work about ten inches square, with a front and lining to
answer as a pouch. It was adorned with precious stones,
described below. The upper corners were fastened to
the ephod, from which it was not to be loosed : the two
lower corners to the girdle. The breast-plate was called
the Memorial, because it reminded the priest of his rep-
resentative character in relation to the Twelve Tribes,
and it was called the Breast-plate of Judgment, prob-
ably because worn by him who was instrumentally the
fountain of judgment and justice to the Jewish Church.

The miter, or head-dress, was formed of eight yards
of fine linen in circular folds, and inscribed in front,
upon a plate of pure gold, the words " Holiness to the
Lord/'

The terms "Urim and Thummim" are associated with
the breast-plate; but whether they denoted some Divine
manifestation made in or upon the breast-plate itself, or
whether it was a visible appendage to the breast-plate,
indicating its peculiar and sacred use in this respect, is

THE ROBES OF THE HIGH-PKIEST. 201

not known. The words literally signify "Lights and
Perfections." The utmost that can be satisfactorily
known respecting the subject is, that it was a manner
or thing through which a knowledge of the Divine will
was sought and conveyed. The twelve stones in the
breast-plate were a sardius, topaz, carbuncle, the first
row; emerald, sapphire, diamond, second row; ligure,
agate, amethyst, third row; beryl, onyx, jasper, fourth
and lower row.

Viewing these grand and enlivening symbolisms, the
"enlightened Freemason can not but wish his lot had been,
cast in the days when Freemasons were operative as well
as speculative, and when God spoke through the myste-
rious TJrim and Thummim as a man speaketh to his
neighbor, face to face. In that spirit the following lines
are offered:

Give me the Faith my fathers had,

When home-worn ties were cast,
In stern contempt, forever back,

Like chaff upon the blast.
These prayers, lip-measured, leave me chill,
As icy fount sends icy rill;
No passion bidding nature start,
No fire struck out to warm the heart;
There's nothing left to make me glad,
Give me the Faith my fathers had.

A patriot now is bought and sold

For price; but give to me
The hopes that traced the hearts of old —

My fathers' Liberty.

What's fine-drawn speech and wordy war?
A candle-ray to freedom's star I

202 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

The hand to hilt, the sword abroad,
The flag to heaven, the heart to God,
These are the tokens I would see;
Give me my fathers' Liberty.

Give my fathers' walk below:
No artful mind was theirs,
To compass kindred hearts about

With treachery and snares ;
No nets of artifice they spread
To lure the innocent to tread ;
Life's blessings they so freely shared,
Life's fears they boldly met and dared;
A blameless life, a death sublime,
These were the things of olden time.

Give me the friendships that entwined

The upright trunks of yore,
The tendrils that so sweetly vined

In beauty and in power.
My heart is sad to think this earth,
With all its jo}', with all its mirth,
Has lost the chain our fathers wove—-
The chain of holy, holy love ;
Has lost the path our fathers trod—-
The path that led them up to God.

0, then, bring back the palmy days

Of innocence and truth,
When honesty was in its prime,

And selfishness in youth ;
When man allowed to man his place,
When probity unbared its face,
When Justice poised an equal scale,
When faith sang through the dying wail;
Away, this age of care and crime —
Give me the days of olden time !

THE TEMPLES UPON MOUNT MORIAH. 203

THE TEMPLES UPON MOUNT MOEIAH.

All that can be known of the Temple of Zerubbabel
is, that, in style of architecture, it was as nearly as pos-
sible a copy of that which had been destroyed by Nebu-
chadnezzar nearly ninety years before. This Temple, in
general form, resembled the Tabernacle, elaborately de-
scribed upon another page. It was a substitute for the
Tabernacle, which was only adapted to a wayfaring peo-
ple, and was the great center of the same system of
ceremonial worship. It was built upon Mount Moriah.
This was one summit of a range of hills, ,the general
name of which was Mount Sion. Beginning on the
north, the ridge bears the name of Bezetha, then Mo-
riah, then Ophel, the latter running down to the junc-
tion of the ravine termed the Tyropoeon with the valley
of Jehoshaphat. Mount Moriah has an altitude of about
four hundred feet above the valley on the east.

The idea of building a Temple was suggested to the
mind of David by the contemplation of his own good
fortune, the general state of prosperity to which his
country had arrived, and his fraternal relations with the
Phoenician King Hiram, whose dominions afforded suit-
able wood and his subjects suitable workmen for the
edifice. It became to David an object of lively and un-
ceasing interest; and although he was not permitted by
the Almighty to take a single step in its erection, yet
he collected during the latter years of his reign precious
metals to the value of many billions of dollars, besides
immense quantities of brass, iron, stone, lumber, etc.,
and secured skillful artificers for every branch of the

204 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

work. He also furnished the design, plan, and location
o'f the building, in all which he was Divinely instructed.

The. superintendence of the building was committed to
his wise son Solomon, who in the fourth year of his
reign laid the foundation-stone and began the work. Of
laborers, native and foreign, there were in all 183,600.
30,000 of these were Jews, who worked in rotation —
10,000 a month. 153,600 of them were Phoenicians;
viz., 70,000 bearers of burdens, 80,000 hewers in wood
and stone, and 3,600 overseers. The parts were all pre-
pared at a distance from the site of the building, and
when they were brought together, the whole immense
structure was erected without the sound of ax, hammer,
or any tool of iron. At the end of seven and one-half
years it stood complete in all its splendor, the glory of
Jerusalem, and the most magnificent edifice in the world.

The Temple, like the Tabernacle, had its front toward
the east. The porch or portico extended across the
whole front, projecting fifteen feet from the main build-
ing, and rising to the height of one hundred and eighty
feet. Upon the sides and rear of the main building was
an additional building of three stories, each nearly eight
feet high. This structure was about half the height of
the Temple, and, though built against the walls, was not
fastened into them. It was divided into apartments like
chambers, which opened into the gallery that surrounded
it. There was a flight of stairs on the south side which
led into the second story, and another leading from the
second into the third. The whole building and its en-
virons were entered by two courts. The inner court,
called the Court before the Temple, or the Court of the
Priests, corresponded generally with the Court of the

THE TEMPLES UPON MOUNT MORIAII. 205

Tabernacle, as did also the sacred apartments, furniture,
and utensils.

The Temple of Solomon was destroyed by Nebuchad-
nezzar, four hundred and twenty-four years after its
completion. A second edifice, in breadth and 'height
twice the size of Solomon's, was erected by Zerubbabel,
being completed seventy-three years after the destruction
of the last. But this lacked five -great essentials of the
other; viz., the Ark, the Mercy-seat, the Sacred Fire,
the Urim and Thummim, and the visible revelation of
the Divine glory, termed the Sheekinah. It was never
blessed, either, with the spirit of prophesy like the former.
This Temple stood without alteration for nearly five
hundred years, when it became much decayed, and
Herod the Great undertook its restoration. So large
were the alterations made that it was in effect almost a
new structure. He began the work seventeen years be-
fore Christ, and in less than ten years completed the
main edifice, so that it could be occupied. The whole
work occupied forty-six years.

The dimensions and description of this Temple are
recorded in history with considerable minuteness. The
outer wall, inclosing the whole, was about one-eighth of
a mile square, and stood nearly forty feet about the
ground. This wall being built up from the valley be-
neath, was, in places, six hundred or even seven hundred
feet in height. In these walls were seven massive and
costly gates, each fifteen feet wide and thirty high; an
additional one in the east, termed the Beautiful Gate,
was seventy-five feet high, of the finest metal, highly
polished, and richly adorned. Piazzas stood against the
wall clear around the hill, supported on the back by the

206 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

wall itself, in front by a double row of columns ; on the
south side the supports were three rows of columns.
The porch on the east side was called Solomon's.

The larger part of the area within these walls was
vacant ground, completely paved with marble, and called
the Court of the Gentiles, because all classes of persons
were at liberty to enter it; but beyond the wall which
separated this from the. next court none but Jews could
pass, under penalty of death.

The second court was inclosed by a wall, and termed
the Court of the Women, because this was the nearest
approach to the Temple that women could make, save
when they brought a sacrifice. Here was the treasury,
and this was the place where some of our Savior's most
impressive discourses were delivered.

The next court toward the Sanctuary was the Court of
Israel. The outer half of this court, which was separated
from the inner by a low railing, was entered by common
Israelite's to attend upon particular services of religion;
but the inner half, next to the Sanctuary, was called the
Court of the Priests, into which none save the tribe of
Levi could enter, unless when he came to offer his sacri-
fice before the altar. Even our Savior, who was of the
tribe of Judah, had no privileges here more than the
most ordinary Israelite; and wherever it is recorded of
him that he entered the Temple, must be understood as
confined to the outer part of the Court of Israel. Within
the Court of the Priests stood the Altar of Burnt-Offer-
ing and the Brazen Laver.

Next came the Sanctuary, the materials of which were
beautiful and costly beyond description. It was ninety
feefc high, ninety feet long, and thirty feet wide, divided

THE TEMPLES UPON MOUNT MORIAH. 207

into two compartments, separated from each other by a
curtain or veil. One of these was termed the Holy
Place, which occupied sixty feet of the whole length, and
in which were the altar of incense, the golden candle-
stick, and the table of shew-bread; the other was the
Most Holy Place, which measured thirty feet each way.
Around the Sanctuary, on all sides except in front, was
a structure of three stories high, like that attached to
the first Temple, as before described, and a vast Porch
extended along the front. The Porch was one hundred
and fifty feet long, thirty wide, and at its highest eleva-
tion nearly one hundred and eighty feet. The majestic
entrance to this Porch was one hundred and thirty-five
feet by thirty-seven; it had no door.

This Temple was razed to its foundations by the Ro-
mans A. D. 70-1, and the site of it was made like a
planed field.

The present inclosure of Mount Moriah, measured on
four sides, is, on the east, 1,523J feet; south, 916; west,
1,600; north, 1,038. The surface of the hill has a gen-
eral declination toward the south and east. The walls
at their base are about nine feet thick, and average fifty
feet in height; at the south-east corner, seventy-seven
feet. The walls rise twelve to fifteen feet above the hill.
In the east wall is a magnificent gate, fifty -five feet wide,
long since closed; no other gate appears in the east or
south wralls. The west wall has eight gates, the north
three. There are three principal edifices within the
Temple area, all being used for purposes of religion by
the Turks. One near the south-western corner is termed
Mosque El-Aksa. It is two hundred and eighty feet long
by one hundred and eighty-three broad, and at its high-

208 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

est rises to about seventy feet. A domed building in the
south-east corner is termed Sidna Issa. A number of
smaller edifices are along the southern wall.

In the center, and traditionally over the site once
occupied by the Temples of Solomon, Zerubbabel, and
Herod successively, is Kubbet es-Sakhrah, or the Mosque
of Omar. This stands upon a marble-paved platform
ten feet high, which is ascended through eight portals,
of Saracenic style, some of which are truly elegant. The
Mosque is one hundred and seventy feet in diameter, and
the same in height. The lower story or main body of
the building is a true octagon, sixty-seven feet on a side
and forty -six feet high; the central and elevated portion
is circular. There are four doors and four porches, each
facing a cardinal point, the southern one affording the
main entrance. Immediately beneath the center of the
dome is a singular object, being a portion of the original
rock, which every-where else was levelled off when the
surface of the mountain was first prepared under the eye
of Solomon. This venerable relic, for what purpose left
can only be conjectured, is sixty feet long from north to
south, and fifty-five broad. Rising five feet above the
marble platform, described above, the body of this frag-
ment is about fifteen feet high. In its south-east corner
is an apartment, chiseled from the solid rock, fifteen
feet square and eight feet high, with a roof five feet
thick; below this there is reason to believe another such
excavation exists, such, perhaps, as the traditions of
ROYAL ARCH MASONRY suggest.

To this, then, have the ancient glories of Mount Mo-
riah come! after alternations of nearly three thousand
years, Jerusalem having been seventeen times destroyed

FURNITURE OF THE SANCTUARY. 209

and rebuilt, all the wealth, the talent, the free-will offer-
ings, the religious fervor, and the Masonic traditions of
a hundred generations are reduced to a few semi-heathen
mosques, a false ritual of worship, a ruined city, and a
desolate land. How long, 0 Lord, how long?

FURNITURE OF THE SANCTUARY.

A collection of Masonic implements, furniture, jewels,
etc., is a synopsis, emblematically conveyed, of the whole
purpose of the Masonic Institution. These things remind
the officers of their power and jurisdiction, warning them
not to abuse their position, limiting their jurisdiction, and
prescribing their conduct. They afford to them, and
equally to the membership, copious topics of advice. A
brother of any grade may descant upon the excellence
of the Holy Writings as a rule of life, for those writings
teach us that, being born upon a level, we should act upon
a square, circumscribe our desires within the compass
of nature's gifts poured from the horn of Divine plenty.
He may learn therefrom to walk uprightly, suffering
neither the pressure of poverty nor the avarice of riches
to tempt the heart, even for a moment, to swerve from
the line of rectitude suspended before them from the
center of heaven. The division of time into equal and
regular portions is to him a sure rule for securing the
greatest good from the opportunities that are daily af-
forded him. The subjection of his passions and desires
is too clearly taught to be misunderstood, and from his
entrance through the north-western portals of the Lodge
to the hour when he is carried by a sorrowing brother-
hood to his final resting-place, every thing around him
14

210 THE ROYAL ARCH MASOX.

in Lodge, Chapter, Council, and Commandery, is a con-
stant admonition of death, and the necessity for an early
preparation.

THE ARK. — In the grades of Most Excellent Master,
ROYAL ARCH MASON, and others following, the Ark be-
comes a prominent emblem. The original of this was
constructed by Moses while on the way from Egypt to
Canaan. It was a small chest made for a specific pur-
pose, by the express command of Jehovah. It was three
feet and nine inches long, two feet and three inches wide,
the same in height. It was made of shittim wood, which
is the Masonic Acacia, playing so important a part in
the drama of the Master Mason, and was covered with
plates of gold. A border or crown of gold encircled it
near the top, and it was surmounted by the mercy-seat,
which was of 'solid gold, and answered the purpose of a
cover or lid to the ark. It will be seen by this descrip-
tion, which is a literal transcript from Biblical accounts,
how unlike the proper form is the Ark usually found in
our ROYAL ARCH assemblies. On each end of the mercy-
seat was placed a golden image, representing a cherub
facing upward and bending down over the Ark. Two
wings of gold were attached to the body of the Ark on
each side, through which passed the staves or poles that
were used in carrying it from place to place. These
were made of the same wood with the Ark, and overlaid
in the same manner.

In the Ark Moses placed a golden pot, containing three
quarts of manna ; Aaron's rod, which miraculously bud-
ded, blossomed, and yielded fruit at once; and the tables
of the testimony, otherwise called the tables of the Ten
Commandments. But we learn, from 1 Kings, viii, that

THE ARK. 211

when it was placed in the Sanctum Sanctorum of Solo-
man's Temple, " there was nothing in the Ark, save the
two tables of stone."

On the mercy-seat, which surmounted the Ark, rested
the awful and mysterious symbol of the Divine presence.

The Temple of Zerubbabel did not contain the Ark.
Whether it was seized among the spoils when the city
was sacked, or whether it was secreted and afterward
destroyed, history does not inform us. The traditions of
Freemasonry only partially supply this hiatus in Scrip-
ture account.

Some comment upon the original contents of the Ark
may be expected. The Holy Writings have been alluded
to in various parts of this work. As the term was under-
stood by Moses, it comprised only the Ten Commandments.
As successive additions were made by himself, by Samuel,
by Ezra, and perhaps others, the Holy Writings increased
in number to embrace thirty-nine different works under
the Old Dispensation. The New Testament Scriptures,
numbering twenty-seven works, makes the complete cat-
alogue of sixty-six. The older portion was conveniently
divided by Jewish authors into the Law, the Prophets,
and the Psalms. In American Lodges and Chapters the
connected series of Old and New Testament Scriptures
are always used; but the opened pages are invariably in
the Old Testament. An account of the loss of the Holy
Writings during the later years of the Jewish monarchy,^
and of their recovery under the good king Josiah, is
given in 2 Chronicles, xxxiv. The Pot of Manna is re-
ferred to in Exodus, xvi: "Moses said, This is the thing
which the Lord commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be
kept for your generations; that they may see the bread

212 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

wherewith I have kept you in the wilderness when I
brought you forth from the land of Egypt. And Moses
said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of
manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept
for your generations. As the Lord commanded Moses,
so Aaron laid it up before the testimony, to be kept."
This manna was a substance miraculously furnished to
the children of Israel on their journey through the wil-
derness, and designed as a substitute for bread, the ma-
terial for which they could not raise during their journey-
ings. It is called "the bread rained from heaven."

The most remarkable things about the manna of the
Israelites were, that double the quantity was supplied on
the sixth day of the week, so that no one need break
the Sabbath by going out in search of it; that on the
Sabbath no manna fell from heaven ; and that what they
kept from the sixth to the seventh day remained sweet,
while that kept from any other became offensive. All
three of these miracles were wrought to attest the sanc-
tity of the Sabbath. It is described as a small, round
thing, as small as the hoar-frost on the ground, like co-
riander-seed, white, and the taste of it like wafers made
with honey. It was ground in mills or beaten in a mor-
tar, then placed in pans, in the shape of cakes, and baked.
In gathering this food, each person was permitted to take
what was necessary for his own use, not exceeding an
omer, or about three quarts, for each member the family.
If more was collected, the surplus was distributed to
those who had less.

For forty years this miraculous supply of food was
furnished daily to between three and four millions of
people. It ceased while they were encamped at Gilgal,

THE KEY. 213

immediately after they had celebrated the passover for
tfie first time in the land of promise.

The emblem of Aaron's Rod is suggestive to a Free-
mason of the progress of nature from youth to man-
hood, and from manhood to trembling decrepitude. Soon
do the buds of infancy bloom on the cheek of youth;
soon are the blossoms of time succeeded by the fruits of
eternity.

THE KEY.

The emblem of the Key may be improved to impress
upon the mind of a ROYAL ARCH MASON the importance
of those secrets which have been transmitted through
thirty centuries, amidst bitter persecutions, for the benefit
of the Sons of Light. As we have thus received them,
untarnished by the touch of profane curiosity, and un-
impaired by the revolution of time and human events, so
must we deliver them, in all their purity and perfection,
to the brethren who shall come after us, confident that
they will never be divulged to the unworthy. The Key
is an emblem often referred to in Scripture.

THE THREE SQUARES.

Allusion has been made upon another page to the use
of these emblems. The traditions of Freemasonry are
uniform, that the greatest possible care was exercised at
the building of the Temple of Solomon, that every block
should be made of exact dimensions to fill a specified
place in the wall. Nor was it left to the fidelity and
vigilance of one man, or the skill and implement of one
man, to decide upon this; three persons at least passed

214 THE ROYAL ARCH' MASOH.

judgment upon every ashlar before it went into the
hands of him who was to cement it within the wall.
The emblematical application of this is too apparent to
need explanation. In practice no person can be ad-
mitted a member of the Masonic Order in any grade
until he has passed the trying square of every person
present at the ballot-test; a single objection would be
fatal to his admission.

THE WORKING TOOLS.

Since the fiat of Heaven has gone forth, In the sweat
of thy face shalt thou eat bread, it becomes us cheerfully
to submit, laboring industriously in our respective call-
ings. Labor is honorable, and to none more so than
those who properly comprehend the theory of this grade.
The pickax, crowbar, and spade are emblems suggesting
to our minds the source from which come our food, me-
tallic wealth, fuel, and other necessaries of life. They
remind us, too, that we are of the earth, earthy, and
that our bodies, when the purpose is accomplished for
which we were placed on earth, will return to dust.

THE FAITHFUL REMEMBRANCE.

WE'LL lay thee down where thou shalt sleep

All tenderly and brotherly,
And woman's eyes with ours shall weep

The -precious drops of sympathy;
We'll spread above the cedar boughs,

Whose emerald hue and rich perfume
Shall make thee deem thy resting-place

A downy bed, and not a tonib.

THE ORDER OF HIGH-PRIESTHOOD. 215

That breast which hath supplied

Thy wants from earliest infancy,
Shall open fondly and supply

Unbroken rest and sleep to thee;
Each spring the flower-roots shall send up

Their painted emblems toward the sky,
To bid thee wait upon thy. couch

A little longer patiently.

"We'll not forget thee, we who stay

To work a little longer here;
Thy name, thy faith, thy love shall lie

On memory's tablets bright and clear;
And when o'erwearied by the toil

Of life our heavy limbs shall be,
We'll come, and one by one lie down

Upon dear mother earth with thee.

There we will slumber by thy side;

There, reunited 'neath the sod,
We'll wait, nor doubt in His good time

To feel the raising hand of God;
To be translated from this earth,

This land of sorrow and complaints,
To the Celestial Lodge above,

Whose Master is the King of Saints !

THE ORDER OF HIGH-PRIESTHOOD.

Although no one is entitled to receive the Order of
High-Priesthood save a ROYAL ARCH MASON who has
been regularly elected to preside over a Chapter of
ROYAL ARCH MASONS, yet there is so much in relation
, to it that will interest the Masonic reader, that we ap-
pend a synopsis of the theory, purposes, and instruc-
tions of the Decree. It bears the same relation to the

216 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

Capitular system of Masonry that the Degree of Past
Master bears to the Symbolical.

The Degree is conferred in a Council of High-Priests,
of which the officers are President, Vice-President, Chap-
lain, Treasurer, Secretary, Master of Ceremonies, Con-
ductor, Herald, and Sentinel. There is nothing in the
robes, jewels, or decorations distinct from those em-
ployed in a Royal Arch Chapter. Not less than three
members must be present to participate in the ceremo-
nies.

The drama has reference to circumstances which oc-
curred in the life of the Patriarch Abraham. In an in-
vasion of the country around the Dead Sea by four east-
ern kings, his nephew Lot had be6n taken prisoner.
Upon being informed of this, Abraham gathered what
force was at his command, pursued the marauders, over-
took them at Hobah, north of Damascus, and rescued
Lot out of their hands. Returning to his abode, near
Hebron, he was saluted, as he passed by Jerusalem, with
blessings and good cheer from the venerable Melchisedec,
Priest of the Most High God, who abode there. It has
ever been one of the hidden problems of Scripture his-
tory who this man was, a mystery still further obscured
by the strange language of Paul, who, in Hebrews vii,
describes him, in symbolical terms, as "without father,
without mother, without descent, having neither begin-
ning of days nor end of life." But the theory that
Melchisedec was Shem, the oldest son of Noah, who is
supposed to have been alive at this period, has able sup-
porters, and is the most likely of all.

In acknowledgment of the priestly dignity and more
than Oriental hospitality of Melchisedec, displayed to-

THE ORDER OF HIGH-PRIESTHOOD. 217

ward him "at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's
dale," Abraham paid him tithes of all the property he
had rescued from the marauders, and received from his
hands this sublime benediction: "Blessed be Abram of
the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth; and
blessed be the most high God which hath delivered thine
enemies into thy hand."

As this is the oldest formula of a priestly benediction
extant, the circumstance is made the foundation of an
impressive and instructive Degree, whose covenants are
prepared with uncommon force, whose means of recogni-
tion are exceedingly practicable and brief, and which, by
teaching respect to the name of the Most High, benevo-
lence to suffering brethren, and the duty of curbing those
passions which tend to evil, is worthy of more study than
it has heretofore received. The accompanying prayer
is worthy of the connection :

"0 thou supreme High-Priest of heaven and earth,
enlighten us, we beseech thee, with the knowledge of
thy truth, and grant that the members of this conven-
tion, and all others who are teachers in Israel, may be
endowed with wisdom to understand and to explain the
mysteries of our Order. Be with us in all our assem-
blies; guide us in the paths of rectitude, and enable us
to keep all thy statutes and commandments while life
shall last, and finally bring us to the true knowledge of
thy holy and mighty name."

The prayer at anointing the candidate is equally ap-
propriate :

218 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

"0 Thou, who doth bless the fruitage of the olive and
the vine to man's use, and doth give him refreshment
and joy for his labor, bless now in a spiritual sense, we
entreat thee, this application of oil and wine, that they
may represent the times of refreshment from on high
which thou wilt bestow upon thy faithful laborers in
the moral vineyard. Give to all thy workmen courage
and strength. Increase their zeal. Awaken them to the
value of thy promises, that when the toils of life are
ended they may hear thy welcome plaudits, < Well done,
good and faithful servants; enter ye into the joy of your
Lord.' Amen."

The benediction employed in this, grade of High-
Priesthood is the Aaronic blessing:

"The Lord bless thee and help thee; the Lord. make
his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give
thee peace."

THE MYSTIC WORD.

The following is the oldest effusion extant, prepared
to accompany the conferring of the grade of Royal Arch
according to the American system. The suggestions and
allusions to the esoterical matters of the grade are suf-
ficiently obvious to the informed companion:

When Orient wisdom beamed serene,

And pillowed strength arose,
When beauty tinged the glowing scene,

And faith her mansion chose,

THE ORDER OF HIGH-PRIESTHOOD. 219

Exulting hands the fabric viewed,

Mysterious powers adored,
And high the triple union stood

That gave. the Mystic Word.

Pale envy withered at the sight

And frowning o'er the pile,
Called murder up from realms of light,

To blast the glorious toil.
With ruffian outrage joined in woe,

They form the league abhorred,
And wounded science felt the blow

That crushed the Mystic Word.

Concealment from sequestered care

On sable pinions (lew,
And o'er the sacrilegious grave

Her veil impervious threw;
The associate band in solemn slate

The awful loss deplored,
And wisdom mourned the ruthless fate

That whelmed the Mystic Word.

At length through time's expanded sphere

Fair science speeds her way;
And warmed by truth's refulgence clear,

Reflects the kindred ray.
A second fabric's towering height

Proclaims the sign restored,
From whose foundation brought to light

Is drawn the Mystic Word.

To depths obscure the favored trine

A dreary course engage
Till through the Arch the ray divine

Illumes the sacred page:
From the wide wonders of this blaze

Our ancient signs restored,
The ROYAL ARCH alone displays

The long-lost MYSTIC WORD !

220 THE ROYAL A&CH MASON.

THE VAULTS UNDER THE TEMPLE.

It has ever been a tradition among Jewish writers,
and woven into various Masonic Degrees, that the hill
termed Moriah, upon which the Temple stood, is exca-
vated in vaults for mysterious purposes. Travelers, from
Bishop Arculf, who visited Jerusalem near the close of
the sixth century, down to the present time, have given
tales of the native residents embodying allusions to this
fact, but no one has furnished the world with a distinct
account until within a few years. Dr. James T. Barclay,
an American missionary, first discovered the opening to
an immense series of excavations, which he has described
in his City of the Great King, published in 1858.
These caves open near the Damascus Gate, in the north-
ern wall of the city, the entrance being under the wall,
which is ten feet thick. The outer apartment is more
than one thousand feet in diameter, the rock being all
quarried out by art, and used doubtless in the construc-
tion of the city, the walls, and the Temple. Many blocks
are still lying upon the floor of the quarry, squared and
prepared for the builders' hands ; others are partly cut
from the wall, as if the workmen were called away before
their task was finished. This quarry being considerably
higher in its lowest place than the ground upon which
the Temple stood, explains a ready method for moving
down by a gentle descent the heavy material used in that
work. The work of quarrying was apparently effected
by an instrument resembling a pick -ax, with a broad,
chisel-shaped end, as the spaces between the blocks were
not more than four inches wide, in which it would be

THE VAULTS UNDER THE TEMPLE. 221

impossible for a man to work with a chisel and mallet.
After being cut away at each side arid at the bottom, a
lever was probably inserted, and the combined force of
three or four men could easily pry the block away from
the rock behind. The stone is extremely soft and fria-
ble, nearly white, and very easily worked, but, like the
stone of Malta and Paris, it hardens upon exposure. The
marks of the cutting-instrument are as plainly defined as
if the workman had but just ceased from his labor. The
extreme length of this quarry, as far as explored, from
the city wall, is not less than a quarter of a mile.

Under the site of the Temple are excavations remain-
ing as remarkable as the building itself. Perhaps every
portion of the Sacred Hill is thus undermined, although
up to the present period only a portion has been ex-
plored. In the south-west corner of the Hill there is a
broad avenue under ground, two hundred and fifty-nine
feet long, forty- two wide, and thirty high. At the end
of this, a flight of nine steps leads downward to another
hall, fifty feet long and forty wide, supported in the cen-
ter by a pillar cut from a single stone, twenty-one feet
high and six in diameter. It is probable that further
galleries will be found connecting this cavern with
others upon the hills westward. In the south-east cor-
ner is a series of caves, including a vault, supported by
fifteen rows of columns, making an apartment three
hundred and nineteen feet by two hundred and fifty.
Immediately under the ancient Temple is a cave twenty
feet by six, near which, at the depth of sixty or seventy
feet, is a cistern capable of holding two million gallons
of water! Concerning this immense reservoir, a writer
says : " There is nothing remaining of all the works of

222 THE ROYAL ARCH MASON.

Solomon which so impressively reflects his wonderful
intellect as this lake under the Temple."

It is only of late years that a thorough and systematic
course of explorations above and beneath Jerusalem
has been commenced. Fanaticism and barbarous exclu-
sion are fast giving way before the light of civilization,
and it can not be long until the Turkish rulers will sub-
mit to the various arguments of steel and gold urged
upon them by throwing open the city to explorers. Then
will be seen that the traditions of Freemasonry, which so
Jong preserved important topographical, architectural,
and religious knowledge concerning the ancient Hill, are
well founded, and it is not beyond the bounds of credi-
bility that discoveries await us as important in the ad-
vancement of Masonic Science as in general information.

THE THIRD ORDER Uf FREEMASONRY.

THE CRYPTIC DEGREES:

CONSISTING OF

»

THE ROYAL MASTER

AND

THE SELECT MASTER.

THESE two Degrees are conferred, according to the
American system, in a Council of Cryptic Masonry.
The ballot is taken in the Second or Select Master's
Degree; the same rules of balloting being observed as
in the Symbolical Lodge.

All discipline exercised, by a Lodge or Chapter re-
quiring suspension and expulsion is indorsed by the
Council without inquiry. The Council has also its own
code of discipline for offenses against its laws.

Not less than nine nor more than twenty-seven mem-
bers can open, work, or close a Council of Cryptic
Masonry.

THE ROYAL MASTER.

WHAT AFTER DEATH?

WE can predict, from day to day,
Some things will meet us on life's way;
But who, of all that draw life's breath,
Can shadow what is after death ?

When spring awakes we look for flowers,
And leafy boughs and genial bowers ;
The flowery spring rewards our faith;
What shall we look for after deathl

When autumn spreads its sober skies,
With open laps we wait the prize;
We catch the showering fruits beneath ;
What fruitage for us after death ?

We trace the infant through each
Of youth, of manhood, and of age;
Each stage confirms our previous faith—
What grade awaits him after death ?

Such the reflections of this grade;
Such question here is freely made;
Life's SECRET lies beneath, beneath,
'T is only yielded after death I

THE EOYAL MASTEK.

THE THEORY OF THE DEGREE OF ROYAL
MASTER.

THE Degree of ROYAL MASTER is the beginning of a
third series, of which the Symbolical Degrees and the
Capitular or Chapitral Degrees -are the first two. As
a distinctive title, that of Cryptic Degrees has been gen-
erally adopted, as referring to the introduction of caves-
or caverns peculiar to this system. The Ritual is simple,
but expressive. The introduction of the Cryptic De-
grees into this country dates from a period about twenty
years subsequent to that of the Royal Arch. The rule
was then established that none but Royal Arch Masons
should receive it. As a grade, it is preparatory to that
of Select Master, bearing the same relation to it which
the Degree of Entered Apprentice bears to that of Fel-
low Craft. Its means of recognition are used as a con-
venient and expeditious method of examining a Royal
Arch Companion. The title of the organization in which
the Degrees of Royal and Select Master are conferred,
is Council of Royal and Select Masters. In a Council
not more than nine nor less than twenty-seven members
can take part at a time; if more be present, they are
supernumerary. The government of Councils is in-

227

228 THE ROYAL MASTER.

trusted to Grand Councils of Cryptic Masonry, of which
there is one in nearly every State.

Mr. Cole informs us that in 1817 the Degree of ROYAL
MASTER was " considered as merely preparatory, and
usually conferred immediately before the solemn cere-
mony of exaltation to the Royal Arch." At that period
it was conferred with the Degree of "Ark Master or
Noachite," both being considered of equal authority.
The latter has become obsolete in this country.

PRAYER. — The frequent repetition of prayer, in all the
Masonic grades, is peculiarly calculated to impress the
memory with our constant obligation to piety and devo-
tion. Were the benefactions of Providence but partially
or unfrequently enjoyed, perhaps we might forget that
return of gratitude which is the only remuneration in
our power to make ; but his benefits are new every
morning and fresh every moment, and surely our per-
petual thanksgiving should ascend to heaven.

The voice of the Temple the tidings of love,
That speaks of the Master who reigneth above;
His glory, His glory in the highest who dwells,
And Good-will to man, is the burden it tells.

Come, Brethren, in chorus,

Prolong the glad tidings,
No duty so sweet as the hymning of God;

His faith each professing,

His knowledge possessing,
Exalt each the blessing His grace hath bestowed.

The meeting of a Lodge of ROYAL MASTERS is, in
strictness, a religious ceremony. It can not be regu-
larly opened or closed without prayer. The book of
Holy Scriptures is an essential part of its furniture,

RECOGNITIONS. 229

•without which no work can be done or instruction at-
tempted. Blasphemy is deemed a heinous offense against
the precepts of this grade. The Lodge of ROYAL MAS-
TERS is, theoretically, a beacon-light, throwing abroad its
rays, as from a mountain summit.

A city set upon a hill

." Can not be hid;

Exposed to every eye, it will

Over surrounding plain and vale

An influence shed;
And spread the light of peace afar,
Or blight the land with horrid war.

This ROYAL LODGE is planted so,

For high display;
It is a Beacon-light to show
Life's weary wanderers as they go

The better way;

To show by ties of earthly love,
How perfect is the Lodge above.

B« this your labor, ROYAL FRIENDS,

While laboring here;
Borrow from him who kindly lends
The heavenly ladder that ascends

The higher sphere;
And let the world your progress see,
Upward by Faith, Hope, Charity!

RECOGNITIONS. — The members of this branch possess
infallible means of recognition, equally applicable to the
grades preceding. They are unchangeable, consistent
with each other, and with a general plan, and they form
a part of the instruction communicated to every ROYAL
MASTER upon his reception into the Lodge. A visitor

230 THE ROYAL MASTER.

endeavoring to enter without a competent knowledge of
these is viewed as an impostor, and contemptuously re-
jected; a visitor possessing them is hailed as a ROYAL
MASTER, and welcomed accordingly.

Yet the outside world are not to suppose that the
mere possession of a few private formulas of word and
gesture are sufficient to entitle a person to conceive
himself a brother. No. These are but the sequalce of
initiation. The whole system is far more elaborate,
comprising a petition for initiation, avouchals, and rec-
ommendations, cautious inspection of moral character,
and of physical and mental qualifications, the ballot
thorough and secret, the reception traditional and im-
pressive, and a series of covenants, than which noth-
ing can be better devised to bind the conscience of a
man to good thoughts and good works. These, accom-
panied with elaborate ritualisms, lead, in the end, to the
communication of appropriate means of recognition, so
arranged that while they suggest to the memory the
peculiar secrets of the grade, are a constant reminder
of its covenants and duties, and the punishment sym-
bolically predicted of those who willfully violate and neg-
lect them.

The means of recognition may be compared, in their
unchangeableness and allegorical character, to the Pil-
lars of King Solomon's Porch. The raising Pillars and
Obelisks was a custom of the eastern nations, and of
Egypt in particular; the use of which, we are told, was
to record the extent of dominion and the tributes of
nations subject to the Egyptian empire, etc., or in com-
memoration of memorable events. Diodorus tells us
that Sesostris signalized his reign by the erection of two

SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES. 231

obelisks, which were cut with a design to acquaint pos-
terity of the extent of his power, and the number of
the nations he had conquered. Augustus, according to
the report of Pliny, transported one of these obelisks to
Rome, and placed it in the Campus Martius. Pliny
says the Egyptians were the first devisers of such move-
ments, and that Mestres, King of Heliopolis, erected the
first. Marsham and others attribute the invention to
Sesostris. The obelisk of Shannesis exceeded all that
had preceded it; Constantine, and Constans, his son,
caused it to be moved to Rome, where it remains, the
noblest piece of Egyptian antiquity existing in the world.
Solomon had pursued this custom in erecting his pillars
in the porch of the Temple, which he designed should
be a memorial to the Jews as they entered the Holy
Place, to warn their minds with confidence and faith by
this record of the promises made by the Lord unto his
father David, and which were repeated unto him in a
vision, in which the voice of God proclaimed, "I will
establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for-
ever."

SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES. — The use of Scriptural pas
sages in the Rituals of Masonry has a twofold applica-
tion. It conveys to the initiate the peculiar instructions
of the grade, often in the most forcible and direct man-
ner, while it gives a clue to the memory in recalling the
means of recognition. In this double sense the follow-
ing passages are appropriate to the degree of ROYAL
MASTER :

"And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying,
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will

232 THE KOYAL MASTER.

dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God
himself shall be with them, and be their God.
. "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;
and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor
crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for the for-
mer things are passed away.

" And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make
all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these
words are true and faithful.

" And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him
that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

"And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with
me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
the first and the last.

" Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they
may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in
through the gates into the city." — Revela. xxi and xxii.

"And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained
unto the house of the Lord: the altar of gold, and the
table of gold, whereupon the shew-bread was, and the
candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and
five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and
the lamps, and the tongs of gold; and the bowls,
and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and
the censers, of pure gold; and the hinges of gold both
for the doors of the inner house, to-wit, of the temple.
So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he
had made king Solomon for the house of the Lord." —
1 Kings, vii.

THE CHERUBIM. 233

"Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall
dwell in thy holy hill?

"He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteous-
ness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.

"He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth
evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against
his neighbor.

"In whose eyes a vile person is contemned: but he
honoreth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to
his own hurt, and changeth not.

"He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor
taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth
these things shall never be moved." — Psalms, xv.

THE CHERUBIM.

THE consideration of the Cherubim as the most sacred
emblem in the Mosaic Ceremonial is a part of the Rituals
of the ROYAL MASTER. A group of Cherubims, in allu-
sion to those that stood in the Holy of Holies, forms a
proper emblem of this grade. The Cherub was a figure
composed of various creatures, as a man, an ox, an eagle,
or a lion. The first mention of the Cherubs is in Gene-
sis, iii, 24, where the figure is not described; but their
office was, with a flaming sword, to keep or guard the
way of the tree of life. The two Cherubs which Moses
was commanded to make, at the ends of the mercy-seat,
were to be of beaten work of gold; and their wings were to
extend over the mercy-seat, their faces toward each other,
and between them was the residence of the Deity. (Ex-
odus, xxv.) The Cherubs in Bzekiel's vision had each
four heads or faces, the hands of a man and wings. The

234 THE ROYAL MASTER.

four faces were the face of a bull, that of a man, that
of a lion, and that of an eagle. They had the likeness
of a man. (Ezekiel, iv and ix.) In 2 Samuel, xxii, 11,
and Psalm xviii, Jehovah is represented as riding on a
Cherub and flying on the wings of the wind. In the ce-
lestial hierarchy Cherubs are represented as spirits next
in order to Seraphs. The hieroglyphical and emblem-
atical figures embroidered on the veils of the Tabernacle
are called Cherubs of curious or skillful work. (Exo-
dus, xxvi.)

The Scriptural accounts of the position of the Cheru-
bims are precise :

"He set the Cherubims within the inner-house: and
they stretched forth the wings of the Cherubims, so that
the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing
of the other Cherub touched the other wall; and their
wings touched one another in the midst of the house." —
1 Kings, vi.

This should be an accurate guide to ROYAL MASTERS
in the use of this emblem in their Lodges.

THE THOUGHT OF DEATH. — There is no portion of the
Ritual of ROYAL MASTER so impressive as the solemn
thought of death, so aptly introduced. " The young may
die, the old must die," is said with an impressiveness
that is very affecting. To the most of men the end of
life is anticipated with horror, insomuch that thousands
of mankind would relinquish the opportunity of gaining
an inheritance " incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth
not away," if the present life could be immortal. Not

THE THOUGHT OF DEATH. 235

so with the truly good man. He anticipates a season
of rest and relief from mortal labors, when the grosser
implements of sublunary arts shall be suspended in the
desolated halls of mortality that the harps of angels may
employ his hands forever. There, there will be no more
occasion for level or plumb-line, for trowel or gavel, for
compass or square. On the perfect level of eternity
neither weakness nor envy will jeopardize the good
man's bright career, nor will he need an emblem of rec-
titude while the example of sister-spirits is ever before
him. The cement of heavenly love will be spread by
the hand of Deity, and no imperfection will require the
force of art to remove it. Infinitely broad will be the
circle of duty, and no brother will be disposed to over-
leap its boundaries, for all will be kept within the angle
of perfection by Him who is able " to keep us from fall-
ing" and present us faultless before the presence of His
glory with exceeding joy. There the General Grand
Lodge of immortality will hold an endless communica-
tion, consisting of the fraternity of the accepted of God.

By the pallid hue of those

Whose sweet blushes mocked the rose;

By the fixed, unmeaning eye,

Sparkled once so cheerfully;

By the cold damps on the brow,

By the tongue, discordant now;

By the gasp and laboring breath,

What, 0 tell us, what is death ?

By the vacancy of heart,
Where the lost one had a part;
By the yearnings to retrieve
Treasures hidden in the grave;

236 THE ROYAL MASTER.

By the future, hopeless all,
Wrapped as in a funeral pall;
By the links that rust beneath,
What, 0 tell us, what is death0

By the echoes swelled around,
Sigh and moan and sorrow-sound;
By the grave that, opened nigh,
Cruel, yields us no reply;
By the silent King, whose dart
Seeks and finds the mortal part;
We may know, no human breath

Can inform us what is death!

•

But the grave has spoken loud;
Once was raised the gloomy shroud,
When the stone was rolled away,
When the earth in frenzied play
Shook her pillars to awake
Him who suffered for our sake;
When the veil's deep fissure showed
All the mysteries of God !

Tell us, then, thou sink of hope,
What is He that breaks thee up?
Mortal, from my chambers dim
Christ arose, inquire of him !
Hark unto the earnest cry,
Notes celestial make reply:
Christian, unto thee 't is given —
Death's a passage unto Heaven!

THE CUNNING WORKMAN. — In all the Masonic Degrees
that relate to the building of the first Temple, particu-
larly those of the Fellow Craft, the Master Mason, the
Mark Master, the Royal Master, and the Select Master,
there is much said in praise of the skill, assiduity, and
fidelity of one known in the Scripture accounts as Hi-

THE CUNNING WORKMAN. 287

ram, the Widow's Son. The Biblical narrative concern-
ing this remarkable man is as follows :

"And Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.

"He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and
his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass; and
he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cun-
ning to work all works in brass. And he came to Solo-
mon, and wrought all his work." — 1 Kings, vii.

" Now I have sent a cunning man, endued with under-
standing, of Huram my father's.

" The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and
his father was a man of Tyre, skillful to work in gold,
and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber,
in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson ; also
to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every
device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men,
and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father."
2 Chronicles, ii.

This man, to the description of whose scientific knowl-
edge and experienced art more space is given than to
any other character in the Old Testament save Moses
and Daniel, was intrusted with all the works in brass,
the pillars Jachin and Boaz, the molten sea, the ten
vases, the ten lavers, the pots, the shovels, and the ba-
sins of the Temple. In- addition to these, it may safely
be affirmed that the general superintendence of the en-
tire erection was placed in his charge; the preparation
of the veils, the engravings of all kinds, the settings of
gems and precious stones, the construction of the ivory

238 THE ROYAL MASTER,

throne, the substructures of the Temple, the Cherubims,
and, in brief, the whole work to which so much time,
labor, genius, and expenditure were given. In this view,
he was the most remarkable man, considered as a prac-
tical mechanic, or, as the Scriptures term it, " cunning
workman," that the world ever produced. It is as nat-
ural to attribute to the Divine Providence the great
qualities of the Builder Hiram as those of the Monarch
Solomon; and it is difficult to see how such a work
could have been constructed at all but for his superin-
tendence.

The Scriptures and Church traditions are silent as to
the ultimate history of the "cunning workman." Tra-
ditions connected with the apocryphal systems of " the
Scotch Rite" describe him as returning to Phoenicia and
constructing various temples after the completion of
Solomon's, but the tradition of the Master Mason's De-
gree is positive that he did not outlive the completion
of his clief-d'cewvre upon Mount Moriah. The circum-
stances of his death, as detailed in the Master's Lodge,
are particularly interesting to the ROYAL MASTER, who
is made acquainted with many amiable traits of his char-
acter, and exhorted to use him as a model of piety,
industry, and fidelity to truth. In the capacity of a
model, "the Widow's Son" is the most prominent figure
in the Masonic Rituals. Every thing connected with his
career while at Jerusalem — his wonderful assiduity to
business, his frugality, his artistic skill, his accuracy in
adapting means to ends, his modesty in his daily con-
tact with kings, his unflinching attachment to discipline,
without which so great a work must have miscarried,
and, best of all, his fidelity to his trust as a speculative

THE CUNNING WORKMAN. 239

workman in a structure that was to survive the ruin of
the Temple and the nation — all these are traits in the
model character of Hiram. In many respects he is a
prototype of the " Man of Galilee," whose Reign of
Peace was prefigured by the period of King Solomon,
and who, as Chief Architect of a religious structure that
will defy eternity to shake it from its base, is the head
of all speculative architecture ; whose traditions are the
history of the Church militant, and into whose glorious
edifice we also, as " the fellow-citizens with the saints
and of the household of God, are built upon the founda-
tion of the apostles and prophets, JESUS CHRIST himself
being the chief corner-stone, in whom all the building
being fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in
the Lord." From these thoughts we naturally deduce the
moral that Masonry was never intended to displace or
supersede Christianity. It may, and often does, sub-
serve the interests of the Cross, but can never fill its
place or answer its ends. So far from setting up any
such pretensions, it distinctly and unequivocally avows
the contrary; and he who trusts to the moral power of
Freemasonry for the revolution of his moral nature, the
subjugation of his evil passions, arid for a blissful im-
mortality, poorly understands the ground-work of the
Order, and works a fatal, unpardonable fraud upon
himself.

THE SELECT MASTER.

16

AT MIDNIGHT AS AT NOON.

AT midnight as at noon

The ancient worthies met :
The glances of the moon

Beheld those laborers late;
Nor till the glancing moon was high
Did any lay his Trowel by.

Each felt a weight of care,
A solemn charge o'erspread;

Each toiled in earnest there,
With busy hand and head;

And to the deep and faithful cave

These midnight craft a secret gave.

In whom the fire burns bright,

At midnight as at noon,
All secrets come to light

Beneath the glancing moon:
Nor till the glancing moon is high,
Must any lay his Trowel by.

THE SELECT MASTER.

THEORETICAL SKETCH OF NINE DEGREES.

THE system of accumulated Degrees is so popular in
the United States, that it is rare to find a Master Mason
who has not taken the " Higher Degrees," or who is not
preparing to do so. This shows that it is not for prac-
tical purposes alone that our countrymen pursue Free-
masonry— for all that is practical in the system is
contained in the first three Grades — but for dramatic en-
joyment and for those eclectic purposes which are sub-
served by the "Higher Degrees." This fact demands
that we should, upon this last page, give a synopsis of
the entire system of Nine Degrees usually accepted as
a series of Grades in American Masonry.

1. THE ENTERED APPRENTICE. — This is the founda-
tion-stone of the whole system; it is the trial Degree.
Not less than seven must be associated together in a
Lodge to confer it. The theory of it is trial and moral
discipline. The working tools or practical symbols are
the Twenty-four-inch Gauge and the Gavel. The in-
structions are Faith, Hope, and Charity; Brotherly

243

244 THE SELECT MASTER.

Love, Relief, and Truth ; Temperance, Fortitude, Pru-
dence, and Justice.

2. THE FELLOW CRAFT.— This is the complement of
the preceding Degree; it is the Apprentice turned Jour-
neyman. Not less than five must be associated together
in a Lodge to confer it. The theory of it is ability to
shape perfect work. The working tools or practical sym-
bols are the Plumb, Square, and Level. The instruc-
tions are the Attentive Ear, the Instructive Tongue, and
the Faithful Breast.

3. THE MASTER MASON. — This is the governing Grade
of the two preceding; it is the Fellow Craft placed in
command of his fellows. Not less than three must be
associated together in a Lodge to confer it. The theory
of it is ability to govern in the love and fear of God. The
working tool or practical symbol is the Trowel. The
instructions are Friendship, Morality, and Brotherly
Love.

4. THE MARK MASTER. — This is the complement, in
ritualism, of the Fellow Craft; it is the Fellow Craft
made skillful. Not less than eight must be associated
together in a Lodge to ^confer it. The theory of it is
good labor merits good ivages. The working tools or
practical symbols are the Chisel and Mallet.

5. THE PAST MASTER. — This is the governing Grade
of the four preceding; it is the Master Mason fitted to
command a Lodge or many Lodges. Not less than three
must be associated together in a Lodge to confer it.

SKETCH OF NINE DEGREES. 245

The theory of it is that a Masonic governor has three
guides to discipline; viz., the Law of God, the Grand
Lodge Constitution, and the By-Laws of his own Lodge.

6. THE MOST EXCELLENT MASTER. — This is closely
connected with the Master Mason's Grade. Not less than
two must be associated together in a Lodge to confer it.
The theory of it is fervent devotion to God. The work-
ing or practical symbol is the Pot of Incense.

7. THE ROYAL ARCH MASON. — This is a continuation
of the Master Mason; it is the Master Mason placed
under circumstances of exile, hard pilgrimage, persecu-
tion, and excessive labor. Not less than nine must asso-
ciate together in a Chapter to confer it. The theory
of it is unbounded devotion to God. The working tools,
or practical symbols are the Pickax, Spade, and Crow-
bar. The instructions are Freedom, Fervency, and
Zeal.

8. THE ROYAL MASTER. — This is a recurrence to the
Grade of Fellow Craft; it is the Fellow Craft urgent for
more light. Not less than nine nor more than twenty-
seven must associate together in a Council to confer it.
The theory of it is ardent cravings for Masonic instruc-
tion.

9. THE SELECT MASTER. — This is the complement of
the Grade of Royal Master; it is the Royal Master sat-
isfied with light. Not less than nine nor more than
twenty-seven must associate together in a Council to
confer it. The theory of it is Justice and Mercy at ac-

246 THE SELECT MASTER,

cord. The working tools or practical emblems, both for
this and the preceding grade, are the Trowel within the

Triangle.

To sum up the theories, or central rays, of these
nine grades, they are:

1. Trial and moral discipline.

2. Ability to shape perfect work.

3. Ability to govern in the love and fear of God.

4. Good labor merits good wages.

5. The three fundamental guides to discipline.

6. Fervent devotion to God.

7. Unbounded devotion to God.

8. Ardent cravings for Masonic instruction.

9. Justice and mercy at accord.

These are all good lessons, whose contemplation can
not fail to improve the mind, soften the heart, restrain
prejudices, increase the virtues, and fit the soul for
higher labors in the Lodge above. In each Degree, the
necessity and duty of prayer are impressed upon the
mind of the novitiate, being as clearly important to the
aged as to the young, on the borders of the grave as
in the flower of manhood. It was pointed out to man,
in the earliest ages of the world, as a suitable medium
of communion between earth and heaven. It was the
"Ladder of the Patriarch," on which angels descend to
minister to the happiness of men. Its three rounds are
adapted to the flight of the soul to its immortal man-
sions. Its benefits are immeasurable, and its obligatory
force is commensurate with probationary being. It can
never be useless or unimportant, till we have passed
through the veils to repose on the bosom of our Maker.

COVENANTS-RECOGNITIONS-QUALIFICATIONS. 247

COVENANTS. — There is also to each grade a series of
Covenants, of which, in the cautious spirit of American
Masonry, we can say but little. They are derived from
Holy Writ, strongly enjoined upon the novitiate, and
repeated with variations of language and sentiment in
each Degree. They are such as none but a conscien-
tious man, walking and working in the fear of God,
can keep.

RECOGNITIONS. — In these grades there is also a series
of methods of recognition, arrangements of tests, words,
gestures, etc., by which the brethren of the respective
Degrees may mutually examine and be examined for all
the purposes of the society, without liability to error.
Of these, no more can be said in print.

QUALIFICATIONS. — A general summary of the qualifi-
cations requisite to admission into any of these nine
grades is thus given : It is formed out of the antiquated
documents of Freemasonry extant, especially the '"An-
cient Charges," a publication, the oldest in Masonic
science, made by authority of the Grand Lodge of Eng-
land, in 1723. An applicant for the honors and privi-
leges, the duties and responsibilities of Masonry, must
be:

1. A Man. "No woman."

2. Free, and Free-born. "No bondman." "The
owner of a bondman might otherwise seize him, even in
the Lodge." "Free-born." "No bondsman."

3. Of suitable age. " Of mature and discreet age."

4. Of good moral character. " Good and true men."
"No immoral or scandalous men." "No thief, robber,

248 THE SELECT MASTER.

or murderer." "Utter no false oaths." "Must rever-
ence God." "Must work honestly." "Do no evil."
"Not commit whoredom." "No thief nor the aid of a
thief." "True men to God and the Church." "Know
no treason or treachery." "No common player at the
cards, dice, hazard, or any other unlawful plays."

5. Born in honest wedlock. "No bastard." "De-
scended of honest parents.''" "Of a good kindred."
"Of honest parentage."

6. Of good public estimation. "Of good report."
"No man under evil report." "Ignorance would dis-
credit the Craft." " Honor is to be done to the Frater-
nity by itinerant Masons." "False oaths would bring
disgrace upon Masonry." "No persons shall be ac-
cepted a Freemason but such as are of good reputa-
tion."

7. Perfect in body. "A perfect youth, having no
maim or defect in his body." "On no account receive
a mutilated person." "His limbs must be quite entire
and shapely ; it would be a stigma upon the Fraternity
to initiate a halt or lame man." " Of limbs whole, as
a man ought to be." "Able in all degrees, having his
right limbs, as a man ought to have." " Of able body."

8. Of good mental powers. " If the Master discover
that he is a Craftsman not so perfect as he should be,
let him be at once discharged." "The Apprentice must
be thoroughly instructed in the various points of the
Masonic science." "He must keep the secrets intrusted
to him."

9. Submissive to Masonic rule. "Willing to serve
seven years." "An Apprentice must serve for smaller
wages than a Fellow Craft." "He must exercise meek-

THEORY OF THE DEGREE OF SELECT MASTER. 249

ness." "He must avoid discord and contention." "He
must be constrained to appear wheresoever he is sum-
moned." "If he in any wise contend against the or-
dinances of the Grand Lodge, he shall be made a sub-
ject of Masonic punishment." "He shall conceal and
hide."

From this summary, the entire code of Masonic dis-
cipline and duty may be deduced. Nothing more per-
fect has ever been presented by human hands for hu-
man adoption, and so long as the labors of the Craft
are performed upon this model, the Masonic Institution
will stand a monument, from age to age, of social ties,
mutual benefit, and moral perfection.

THE THEORY OF THE DEGREE OF SELECT
MASTER.

The Degree of SELECT MASTER is the ninth and last
of the series contemplated in the present volume. Be-
yond it, there is one Degree in the Chivalric System,
termed the Red-Gross Knight, which bears the same re-
lation to the Royal Arch that the Royal Master's De-
gree bears to the SELECT MASTER. But our present
plan excludes it from this volume.

The Degree of SELECT MASTER, in beauty and im-
pressiveness, does not lose in comparison with any other
named in the present volume. Its drama is peculiarly
interesting, suggesting to the mind the greatest doctrine
of the Holy Scriptures; viz., the blending of mercy with
justice. Mr. Webb's discription of it is as follows:
"This Degree is the summit and perfection of .ancient
Masonry; and without which, the history of the Royal

250 THE SELECT MASTER.

Arch can not be complete. It rationally accounts for
the concealment and preservation of those essentials of
the Craft which were brought to light at the erection
of the second Temple, and which lay concealed from the
Masonic eye four hundred and seventy years. Many
particulars relative to those few who, for their superior
skill, were selected to complete an important part of King
Solomon's Temple are explained. And here, too, is ex-
emplified an instance of justice and mercy by our ancient
Patron toward one of the Craft, who was led to disobey
his commands by an over-zealous attachment for the in-
stitution. It ends with a description of a particular cir-
cumstance which characterizes the Degree." Mr. Cole
describes the Degree of SELECT MASTER as "filling up
a chasm which every intelligent Royal Arch Mason has
observed. Without it, it seems difficult, if not impossi-
ble, to comprehend clearly some of the mysteries that
belong to the august Degree of Royal Arch." He adds :
" Such is the nature of this Degree, that we can not feel
freedom to allude remotely to the nature of its secrets;
we may, however, pronounce it the Key to the Arch."
In 1817 it was conferred only in the city of Baltimore,
Maryland, where it ranked as the Fifth Degree in the
series, following next to that of Mark Master. In a sub-
sequent page, Mr. Cole says : " Without the Degree of
SELECT MASTER, that of Royal Arch discovers to the
strict inquirer a chasm, the bottom of which, notwith-
standing its native and artificial brilliancy, is enveloped
in darkness."

So much being said in all the Degrees of Craft Ma-
sonry relative to the city of Jerusalem, it will be proper
here to give a more complete account of that remarka-

THEORY OF THE DEGREE OF SELECT MASTER. 251

ble place. Its history surpasses in vicissitudes that of
any other upon earth. Seventeen times has it been
destroyed and rebuilt. Every nation that has risen in
the Oriental world, for nearly four thousand years, has
invested and captured Jerusalem, and in turn yielded it
to succeeding spoilers. The first notice that history
affords us of this remarkable place, is in the account of
Abraham pursuing the four kings to Hobah, and rescu-
ing his nephew Lot from their hands. Returning to
Hebron, which was his residence, he was met in the
Vale of Shaveh by Melchizedek, the king of Salem, to
whom he paid tithes of the spoil he had captured. At
the same time he received from that prince a blessing,
even the blessing of the Most High God, together with
such refreshments as his wearied party needed.
. Upon the conquest of Palestine by Joshua, Jerusalem
was cast to the lot of Benjamin ; but the warriors of that
tribe failing to seize it from the Jebusites, it fell to the
people of Judah, upon whose boundary-line it stood, and
whose superior prowess, under king David, wrested it from
the hands of the enemy. David made it the Royal City
and Metropolis of his kingdom. His son Solomon erected
that wonderful and mysterious edifice, the Temple, upon
its eastern eminence, Mount Moriah, and in the division
of the kingdom, under Rehoboam, it remained the Me-
tropolis of the Kingdom of Judah.

In the day of its highest splendor and prosperity its
population exceeded a million of souls. The Jewish cer-
emonial requiring all the people to appear in the Temple
three times a year, Jerusalem was ever a thronged city
and the great inland mart of the nation. The surround-
ing hills, being terraced and irrigated, were covered with

252 THE SELECT MASTER.

the fruitful things of that latitude, grains, figs, olives
and vines. The cattle grazed upon the thousand hills,
affording food, clothing, and wealth to the inhabit-
ants.

But glorious as was the temporal prosperity shared
with Tyre, Sidon, the cities of Egypt, and other flourish^
ing emporiums, Jerusalem was more fortunate than any,
in being the residence, the earthly home, of the Most
High God. Jehovah, who had answered the supplica-
tions of King Solomon in the Fire and the Cloud,
condescended to abide upon the Mercy-seat under the
cherubim, in the Most Holy Place. By oracles, by the
mystic Urim and Thummim, by visions, voices, and
dreams, he answered the prayers of the faithful through
the Divinely-ordained Priesthood, and made his presence
known to those who rightly sought him. This fact, well
understood by the pious Jews, made Jerusalem the "joy
of the whole earth" to them. It was the Sacred City,
the one spiritual oasis in a wilderness of heathen super-
stititions and impiety. From hence came forth the law.
The Psalms of David were promulgated from this city.
Ezra collated and composed the sacred canon here.
Here for hundreds of years stood up, east of the Porch
of the Temple, the grand pillars, Jachin and Boaz, the
wonder and admiration of all beholders ; an assurance to
all, in their very names, that in strength God had cove-
nanted to establish the honor, the city, the kingdom, the
law forever, provided Israel would continue to serve
him as their Lawgiver and Ruler.

Such, then, was the City of the Great King; the per-
fection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth. But, alas!
how great has been her fall ! How doth the city sit sol-

CRYPTIC MASONRY. 253

itary that was full of people ! how is she become as a
widow !

Reft of thy sons, amid thy foes forlorn,

Mourn, widowed Queen ! forgotten Sion, mourn !

Is this thy place, sad city, this thy throne,

Where the wild desert rears its craggy stone —

Where suns, unblest, their angry luster fling,

And way-worn pilgrims seek the scanty spring?

Where now thy pomp, which kings with envy viewed?

Where now thy might, which all these kings subdued?

No martial myriads muster in thy gate :

No suppliant nations in thy temple wait;

No prophet-bards, thy glittering courts among,

Wake the full lyre, and swell the tide of song;

But lawless force and meager want are there,

And the quick, darting eye of restless fear;

While cold oblivion, mid thy ruins laid,

Folds his dark wing beneath the ivy shade.

Jerusalem, now for more than a thousand years in
possession of the infidel, is a miserable town, of less
than ten thousand inhabitants, possessing not a wreck
of its former glory. Temple, brazen pillars, palaces, all
are gone. The very surface of the earth upon which
pressed the feet of prophets, priests, and kings, is buried,
in places, fifty feet deep beneath the debris of the former
city, and, with the exception of a few great stones in
the foundation- walls about Mount Moriah, it is impossible
to point to an object fashioned by the hand of man,
and affirmed with certainty, " this is the handiwork of
the men of Solomon."

• CRYPTIC MASONRY. — The term " Cryptic Masonry," as
applied to the two Degrees of the Council, is derived
more especially from the SELECT MASTER. Descriptions

254 THE SELECT MASTER.

of some of the remarkable caves and substructures of
King Solomon 3 Temple will be found upon subsequent
pages. It is a pleasant tradition, illustrating this de-
partment, that the body of the Wi&e King yet lies en-
tombed within a crypt, in the bowels of the Sacred
Mountain, and that his spirit is permitted to wander
forth at midnight, and to visit for one hour the places
made memorable by his wisdom, valor, benevolence, or
piety, during his lifetime. Among all these, however,
there is none which his spirit haunts with such tenacity
as working Lodges of Freemasons. Wherever Gavels
ring or Jewels gleam, past the midnight hour, the spirit
of Solomon is. found, not visible to the eye, but appar-
ent, it is said, to the well-informed, by the enlarged
spirit of brotherly love animating .every breast. The
following lines illustrate the thought:

KING SOLOMON'S MIDNIGHT VISIT.

IN a deep, rocky Cave great King Solomon lies,

Sealed up till the judgment from all prying eyes:

The Square on his breast, and his kingly brow crowned,

His Gavel and Scepter with filletings wound ;

At midnight, impatient, his spirit comes forth,

And haunts for a season the places of earth.

He flits like a thought to the chambers of kings;

To the plain where black battle has shaken his wings;

To the cave where the student his late vigil keeps;

To the cell where the prisoner hopelessly weeps :

But most where Freemasons their mystical round

Continue past midnight, King Solomon 's found. ^

0, then when the bell tolls low tivelve, do we hear
A rustling, a whispering startle the ear ;

THE TWENTY-SEVEN WORKMEN. 255

A deep solemn murmur, while Crafts stand in awe,
At something the eye of a mortal ne'er saw;
We know it, we feel it, we welcome the King,
Whose spirit takes part in the anthem we sing.

And then every heart beats responsive and warm;
The Acacia blooms freshly, we heed not the storm;
Our tapers are starlit, and lo ! from above,
There seems as descending the form of a Dove !
'T is the Emblem of Peace that King Solomon sends,
To model and pattern the work of his friends.

His friends, loving brothers, when homeward you go
Bear Peace in your bosoms-, let Peace sweetly flow 1
In concord, in friendship, in brotherly love,
Be faithful, no emblem so true as the Dove;
The world will confess then, with cheerful accord,
You have met with King Solomon at midnight abroad!

THE TWENTY-SEVEN WORKMEN.

In the ranks of the faithful, whose biography is given
with more or less minuteness in. the Holy Scriptures,
there are Twenty-seven names especially worthy the
reverence of SELECT MASTERS. They are named below
in the order of their lives. Each in his day performed
his part, Trowel in hand, girded about with white rai-
ment as becometh the faithful of God, to spread the ce-
ment upon the walls of moral architecture, and each is
embalmed in the memory of all who revere virtue and
fortitude devoted to a holy calling.

1. ADAM. — His birth was cotemporaneous with the
creation of the world; he was the last and noblest of
God's works. The victim of temptation, he was ban-
ished from Eden and condemned to a toilsome lot, which

250 THE SELECT MASTER.

he bore patiently, and thus, by faith in a coming Mes-
siah, was reinstated in the favor of God. He died B. C.
8074, aged 930 years.

2. ABEL. — Born B. C. 4001, he met with a shocking
death at his brother's hands at the age of 126 years.
In his meekness, his piety, attention to religious duty,
and undeserved death, he is an emblem of 'one " whose
blood speaketh better things than that of Abel."

3. ENOCH. — Born B. C. 3382, he was translated be-
yond the persecutions of his enemies to the land of per-
petual peace at the age of 365 years. "By faith Enoch
was translated that he should not see death; and was
not found because God had translated him ; for before
his translation he had his testimony that he pleased
God.'3

4. NOAH.— Born B. C. 2948, this godly man, " being
warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with
fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house ; by the
which he condemned the world and became an heir of
the righteousness which is by faith." He survived the
flood 349 years, dying at the age of 950 years.

5. ABRAHAM. — This memorable character, the founder
of the Jewish nation, was born in Chaldea, B. C. 1996,
and died near Hebron, in Canaan, at the age of 175
years. "When called to go into a place which he
should afterward receive for an inheritance, he obeyed;
for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose
builder and maker is God."

THE TWENTY-SEVEN WORKMEN. 257

6. ISAAC. — Born in the patriarchal abode at Beersheba,
B. C. 1896, he lived a peaceable and quiet life, in the
constant exercise of charity and benevolence, and died
aged 180 years.

7. JACOB. — Born B. C. 1836, he lived a life of great
vicissitudes, suffering much from the consequences of
his own sins and the evil conduct of his children, yet
ever trusting in God for pardon, and died in Egypt, in
the arms of his beloved son Joseph, aged 147 years.

8. JOSEPH. — Born in Padan Aram, B. C. 1746, he was
sold by his brothers as a slave, at the age of 17 years ;
was taken to Egypt and became its governor at the
youthful age of 30. A model son and brother, he
brought down all his relatives to Egypt, where he pro-
vided for their support, and died at the age of 110
years.

9. MOSES. — Born in a state of servitude in Egypt,
B. C. 1571, he became at the age of 80 the. Lawgiver
and Captain of his people, whom he conducted by an
arduous and devious route to the land of their fathers,
and expired on Mount Pisgah, in view of the Promised
Land, at the age of 120 years.

10. AARON. — Born in Egypt, B. C. 1574, he was the
Deputy and Spokesman of his greater brother Moses;
assisted him in conducting the people and putting into
operation their new laws and ceremonials, and died upon
Mount Hor, in Edom, at the age of 122 years.

17

258 THE SELECT MASTER.

11. JOSHUA. — Born in Egypt, B. C. 1553, lie accom-
panied the spies from Kadesh Barnea into Canaan, was
faithful amidst all disasters, and upon the death of
Moses took command of the hosts of Israel, and accom-
plished the conquest of Palestine within about six years.
He died, aged 110 years.

12. CALEB. — Born in Egypt, his career resembled
that of Joshua. He was one of the spies who brought
a good report to Moses. In the conquest of Canaan he
fought a good fight, and was allotted Hebron and its
surroundings for his inheritance.

13. BARAK. — A deliverer of Israel from the grievous
oppressions of Sisera, he ruled his people in the fear of
God for forty years.

14. GIDEON. — A follower in the chivalrous career of
Barak, he rescued his country from the Midianites in a
great battle at the well Harod, striking boldly in the
name of the Lord.

15. JEPHTHAH. — The third in this band of national
deliverers, he drove back the Ammonites, achieving a
decisive victory at Aroer, and by his piety and valor
gave peace to Israel, whom he ruled for six years.

16. SAMUEL. — Born at Ramathaim Zophim, B. C. 1155,
he became the most eminent prophet and priest since
the days of Moses. From early youth he had access to
God, and by successive communications derived the Di-
vine will by which he ruled his people Israel.

THE TWENTY-SEVEN WORKMEN. 259

17. DAVID. — Born at Bethlehem, B. C. 1085, he was
from his youth " a man after God's own heart." Though at
times overcome by temptation, his sins were not presump-
tuous ; he submitted patiently to punishment, and poured
forth his penitence and thanksgiving in his deathless
Psalms. He died at the age of 71 years, and was
buried on Mount Sion, where his sepulcher is shown to
this day.

18. — SOLOMON. — Born B. C. 1033, he is the Founder
of Speculative Masonry or Freemasonry, of which his
Temple on Mount Moriah was equally the spiritual and
the practical model. He was emphatically the Wise
King, the Moralist, the Royal Patron of Science and the
Arts. Eed into shocking follies, his old age recalled
him to a purer life, and he died, it may be hoped, in the
prospect of a better world.

•

19. HIRAM, KING OF TYRE. — The royal friend and
provider of King Solomon, the Great Temple at Jerusa-
lem was equally indebted to his munificent procurement
of materials and his experienced skill in their distribu-
tion.

20. HIRAM, THE BUILDER. — The Operative Grand
Master and companion of two kings, was "a widow's
son of the tribe of Naphtali, filled with all wisdom and
understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass;
skillful to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, in
iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in
fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of
graving, and to find out every device which shall be put

2(JO THE SELECT MASTER.

to him." This is the man whose noble death in defense
of his integrity stands as a Masonic example to all ages.

21. ADONIRAM. — This man was the royal Treasurer
of Solomon, and an active participant in the erection of
the mystic temple of Freemasonry.

22. ELIJAH. — The Tishbite of Gilead stands fore-
most in the Old Testament Scriptures for nearness of
access to the throne of Deity, for boldness of approach
to kings, for powers of enduring hunger, thirst, and fa-
tigue when upon the mission of God, and for the splen-
dor of his departure, on one of the summits of Abarim,
a in a chariot of fire and with horses of fire."

23. ELISHA. — The son of Shaphat, of Abel Meholath,
became the successor -of Elijah and the possessor of his
mantle. . He enjoyed, like him, the manifest favor of God.
His miraculous powers proved his favor with Deity, which
he ever exerted for the benefit of suffering humanity. In
his day the nation of Israel, long divided into two king-
doms, was fast hastening, by a course of idolatry and
sin, to its own destruction, an event that might be de-
layed, but could not be prevented by all the efforts of
these prophets.

24. ZERUBBABEL. — A prince of the house of David,
one of the captivity, who had kept his apron unspotted
during the years of his exile, it was his happy portion to
lead back the first portion of Judah to the land of their
fathers. The destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchad-
nezzar occurred B. C. 588. Zerubbabel, with his follow-

THE TWENTY-SEVEN WORKMEN.

ers, reached the ruined city fifty-two years afterward,
laid the foundation of the second Temple two years later,
and dedicated it B. C. 515, seventy-three years after its
destruction.

25. EZRA. — Coming from Babylon to Jerusalem, he
was made governor, B. C. 457, and acted in that capac-
ity for twelve years. He then became engaged in col-
lecting and publishing the Jewish Scriptures, and restor-
ing the purity of the Jewish worship.

26. JUDAS MACCABEUS. — Made governor of Judea,
B. C. 166, this man was the last of a long array of holy
and valiant men who upheld their nation, always strug-
gling against the greatest odds, preserved their religion
from total destruction, and left upon record examples of
undying interest.

27. JOHN THE EVANGELIST. — Born by the Sea of Gali-
lee, and accustomed to the hardships and poverty of a
fisherman's life, this man was raised, by faith in the Son
of God, to the most commanding eminence among the
Sons of Light. For his amiability he was styled "the
beloved Disciple." After the tragedy upon Calvary he
took charge of Mary, the mother of Jesus. He bore
exile and tortures unflinchingly for Christ's sake, and
expired at the ripe age of 100 years, the last and great-
est of the Apostles.

These are the Twenty-seven whose names and history
gleam forth from the pages of Scripture as the sun-rays
from the eastern horizon, and who afford the laborers of

262 THE SELECT MASTER.

the Trowel every shade of example which human exigen-
cies can demand.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE SCRIPTURES.

It is essential to the understanding of Bible facts
that a careful and accurate table of chronological data
should be accessible to the reader. Such a one is here
appended :

B.C.

4004— Creation of the World.

4002— Birth of Cain.

4001— Birth of Abel.

3875— Murder of Abel.

3874— Birth of Seth.

3382— Birth of Enoch.

3317— Birth of Methusaleh.

3074— Death of Adam.

3017— Translation of Enoch.

2962— Death of Seth.

2948— Birth of SToah.

2468— The Deluge threatened.

2348— Death of Methusaleh.

2348— The Flood.

2347— Termination of the Flood.

2234— Building of Babel.

2234 — Confusion of Tongues and Dispersion.

2233 — Nimrod began the Assyrian Monarchy.

2188 — Mizraim began the Egyptian Monarchy.

1998— Death of Noah.

1996— Birth of Abraham.

1936 — Abraham called to Haran.

1921 — Abraham called to Canaan.

1913 — Abraham's Victory over the Kings.

1910— Birth of Ishmael.

1897 — God's Covenant with Abraham.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE SCRIPTURES. 263

B.C.

1896— Birth of Isaac.

1871— Isaac offered.

1859— Death of Sarah.

1856 — Isaac marries Rebecca.

1836 — Jacob and Esau born.

1821— Death of Abraham.

1759 — Jacob went to Padan.

1746 — Joseph born.

1739 — Jacob returned to Canaan.

1729 — Joseph sold as a Slave.

1716 — Joseph made Governor of Egypt

1716— Death of Isaac.

1706 — Jacob removed to Egypt.

1689— Death of Jacob.

1636— Death of Joseph.

1574— Birth of Aaron.

1571— Birth of Moses.

1553— Birth of Joshua.

1531 — Moses fled to Midian.

1491 — Moses commissioned.

1491 — Departure of Israelites from Egypt

1490 — The Law delivered on Sinai.

1452 — Death of Miriam.

1452— Death of Aaron.

1451— Death of Moses.

1451 — Israelites enter Canaan.

1443— Death of Joshua.

1155— Birth of Samuel.

1116— Death of Eli, the High-Priest

1095 — Saul anointed King.

1085— Birth of David.

1063 — David anointed King.

1055— Death of Saul.

1048 — David King over all Israel.

1047 — Jerusalem made*the Jewish Metropolis.

1033— Birth of Solomon.

1023— Death of Absalom.

204 THE SELECT MASTRK.

B.C.

1015 — Solomon crowned King.
014— Death of David.
004 — Completion of the Temple.
975— Rehoboam King.
958— Abijah King.
955 — Asa King.
614 — Jehoshaphat King.
892 — Jehoram King.
885— Ahaziah King.
878— Joash King.
839 — Amaziah King.
810— Uzziah King.
758— Jotham King.
742— Ahaz King.
726— Hezekiah King.
698— Manasseh King.
643 — Amon King.
641 — Josiah King.
610 — Jehoahaz King.
599 — Jehoiachin King.
599— Zedekiah King.
588 — Babylonian Captivity.
588 — Destruction of Jerusalem
538 — Babylon taken by Cyrus.
536 — Return of Captives to Jerusalem.
534 — Foundations laid of Second Temple.
529 — The work ordered to cease.
520 — Favorable Decree b.y Darius.
518 — Esther made Queen.
515 — Second Temple, completed.
510 — Hainan's Plot frustrated.
484 — Xerxes King of Persia.
464 — Artaxerxes Longimarius.
457 — Ezra sent to govern Jerusalem.
423— Darius Nothus.

335 — Alexander establishes the Grecian Empire
332— -Jaddus High-Priest

CHRONOLOGY OF THE SCRIPTURES. 265

B.C.

323— Death of Alexander.

320 — Jerusalem taken by Ptolemacus Lagus.

277 — Septuagint Version of Scriptures made.

170 — Jerusalem taken by Antiochus Epiphanes.

166 — Judas Maccabaeus Governor.

161 — Jonathan Governor.

135 — John Tlyrcanus.

107 — Judas High-Priest and King.

63 — Jerusalem taken by Pompey.

40— Herod the Great, King.

28 — Augustus Caesar Emperor of Borne.

18— Herod begins the Third Temple.
4 — Birth of John the Baptist
4— Birth of Jesus Christ

A.D.

1 — Birth of Jesus Christ.
12 — Jesus visits Jerusalem.
18 — Tiberias Emperor of Rome.
26 — Pontius Pilate Governor of Judea
29 — John the Baptist began his Ministry.
30 — Jesus baptized by John.
33 — Jesus was Crucified.
35 — Martyrdom of Stephen.
36— Saul Converted.
38 — Conversion of the Gentiles.
42 — Herod Agrippa King of Judea.
44 — James beheaded.
54 — Nero Emperor of Rome.
63 — Paul sent prisoner to Rome.
65 — Commencement of Jewish War.
66— Death of Paul.

70 — Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus.
71 — The City and Temple razed to foundation*
79 — Titus Emperor of Rome.
81 — Domitian Emperor of Rome.
95 — John banished to Patmos.
96— John wrote Apocalypse.

266 THE SELECT MASTER.

A. D.

97 — John liberated from exile.
100— John died.

ANTIQUITY. — There are few subjects to which antiquity
does not lend a charm. The meditative mind loves to
dwell upon what bears the impress of ages long gone
by. An indefinable charm lingers around aged things —
the oak, through whose branches have whistled the winds
of a thousand winters; the mountain, whose bald summit
has warded off the thunderbolts of ages ; the stately pile
of art, whose arches have echoed the footsteps of untold
generations — and enchains the spirit as if by some magic
spell. They connect us with the past, and tinge the
mind with the solemn hues that color the distant. They
extort an homage from the beholder that few things can.
He who possesses a feeling soul will linger amid such
scenes and objects with a pleasure mixed with grateful
awe.

And if such is the power of antiquity when connect-
ing us with things inanimate, how much more potent
does it become when connecting us with the society of
living, sentient beings of like feelings with ourselves!
How sensitive the chord, how profound the feelings it
awakens there ! We no longer feel ourselves existing
only now, and as individuals, but to be living at each
separate period of our society's duration, and to have
our hearts swell with the feelings and our minds kindle
with the thoughts of all our brethren before us. Is it
strange, then, that the Freemason should read the his-
tory of his ancient brethren with emotions? that he
should love his Order all the better for being ancient,
and render it an homage profounder and more devo-

ANTIQUITY. 2t»7

tional on that account? Had it been worthless it could
never have become old. Things worthless do not so out-
last the wastings of time ; do not triumph, age after age,
over all the oppositions of power and intelligence, in-
flamed by untiring hostility.

These thoughts are suggested to our minds in taking
a chronological view like that afforded by the tables
above. Measuring back from the Evangelist John, we
mark a long array of names of men who have left their
"footprints on the sands of time," and whose lives have
been living monuments of the teachings of Freemasonry.
A Society that flourished in the times of a Solomon, a
Zerubbabel, a John — a light that shone with equal brill-
iancy upon an Abraham, a Moses, a Samuel — is worthy
of profoundest admiration, if only for its antiquity and
its unchangeableness in a world so fickle as ours. To
look at a table of eminent men in the earlier stages of
history is to look upon the Freemasons' Roll.

The principles by which these fathers of the ancient
Art were actuated were few, simple, sublime. They
are all communicated, either in letter or spirit, in the
Moral Law, the Ten Commandments. Upon these, as a
basis, men of all nations, ages, faiths could harmonize,
and can harmonize. To add new rules and injunctions
to these is to destroy the very Society which it is pro-
posed thus to amend. This the poet has truly expressed
in the following lines:

The OLD is better; is it not the plan

By which the Wise in by-gone days contrived

To bind in willing fetters man to man
And strangers in a sacred nearness lived?

268 THE SELECT MASTER.

Is there in modern wisdom aught like that
Which 'midst the blood and carnage of the plain

Can calm man's fury, mitigate his hate,
And join disrupted friends in love again ?

No: for three thousand years the smiles of heaven,

Smiles on whose sunbeams comes unmeasured joy,
To this thrice-honored cement have been given,

This bond, this covenant, this sacred tie:
It cornea to us full-laden : from the tomb

A countless host conspire to name its worth,
Who sweetly sleep beneath the Acacia's bloom

And there is naught like Masonry on earth,

Then guard the venerable relic well;

Protect it, Masters, from the unholy hand;
See that its emblems the same lessons tell

Sublime, through every age and every land:
Be not a line erased ; the pen that drew

These matchless tracings was the Pen Divine:
Infinite wisdom best for mortals knew;

God will preserve intact the grand design.

A

BEAUTIFUL AND ACCURATE ELEVATION

OF THE

TEMPLE OF SOLOMON,

TAKEN FROM THE

CELEBRATED MODEL

ERECTED BY COUNSELLOR SCHOTT, OF HAMBURG, ORNA-
MENTED WITH THE MOST INTERESTING PASSAGES IN
THE LIVES OP KING DAVID, AND SOLOMON,
HIS SON.

TKI Temple of Solomon, in general form, resembled
tho Tabernacle; in fact, it was a substitute for the
Tabernacle, which was only adapted to a wayfaring
people, and like it, the temple was the great center of
the same system of ceremonial worship. It was built
upon Mount Moria, which was one summit of a range
of hills, the general name of which was Mount Zion.
Beginning on the north, this ridge bears the name of
Bezetha, then Moriah, then Ophel, the latter running
down to the junction of the ravine termed the Tyro-
peon, with the valley of Jehoshaphat. Mount Moriah
has an altitude on the east of about four hundred feet
above the valley.

TEMPLE OP SOLOMON.

The idea of building a temple was suggested to the
mind of David by the contemplation of his own good
fortune, the general state of prosperity to which his
country had arrived, and his fraternal relations with
the Phoenician king Hiram, whose dominions afforded
suitable wood, and his subjects suitable workmen, foi
the edifice. It became to David an object of lively
and unceasing interest; and, although, he was not per-
mitted by the Almighty to take a single step in its
action, yet, during the latter years of his reign, he
collected precious metals to the value of many millions
of dollars, besides immense quantities of brass, iron,
stone and other material, and secured skillful artificers
for every branch of the work. He also furnished tho
design, plan and location of the building — in all of
which he was divinely instructed. The superintend-
ence and erection of it was, however, committed to
his wise son Solomon, who, in the fourth year of his
reign, laid the foundation-stone and began the work.

Like the Tabernacle, the Temple had its front toward
the east. The porch or portico extended across the
whole front, projecting fifteen feet from the main build-
ing. Upon the sides and rear of the main building was
an additional building of three stories, each nearly eight
feet high. This structure was about half the height
of the Temple proper, and, though built against the
walls was not fastened to them. It was divided into
apartments like chambers, which opened into the gal-
lery which surrounded it. There was a flight of stairs

TEMPLE OF SOLOMON.

on the south side which led into the second story, and
another leading from the second into the third. The
whole building and its environs were entered by two
courts ; the inner court, called the court of the Priests,
corresponds, generally, with the court of the Taber-
nacle, as did also the sacred apartments, furniture, and
utensils.

The structure, for beauty, magnificence, and expense,
exceeded every building ever known to the world. It
was built with large blocks of white marble, hewn in
a very curious manner, and so joined together that
they deceived the eye, and looked like one entire
stone. Its inner walls, beams, posts, doors, floors, and
ceilings were made of cedar wood, olive wood, and
planks of fir, covered with plates of gold, engraved
with marks of various characters, and adorned with
precious jewels of many colors, disposed in a running
order. The nails which fastened these plates were of
gold, with heads of curious workmanship. The roof
was of olive wood, covered with plates of gold which
shone with such brightness as to dazzle the eyes of
the beholder. The court in which the Temple stood,
and those without it, were built on all sides with stately
buildings and cloisters; and the gates entering therein
were very beautiful and sumptuous.

The vessels consecrated to the perpetual use of the
Temple were not less noble than the pile itself. Jo-
sophus counts one hundred and forty thousand of them
which were made of gold, and one million three hun-

TEMPLE OP SOLOMON.

drod and forty thousand of silver; ten thousand vest-
ments of silk, with purple girdles, for the Priests, and
two millions of purple vestments for singers. Thero
were, likewise, two hundred trumpets, and forty thou-
sand other musical instruments made use of in prais-
ing God. By Yillalpandus's computation of the num-
ber of talents of gold, silver, and brass laid out upon
the Temple, the sum amounts to six thousand nine
hundred and four millions, eight hundred and twenty-
two thousand and five hundred pounds sterling; and
the jewels are reckoned to exceed this sum; while ac-
cording to Capel's reduction of the talents contained
in the gold and silver vessels in the use of the Temple,
the sum of the gold ones amounts to five hundred and
forty -five millions, two hundred and ninety-six thou-
sand, two hundred and three pounds and four shill-
ings sterling, and the silver came to four hundred
and thirty-nine millions, three hundred and forty -four
thousand pounds sterling. Besides these, there were
charges for other materials, and of ten thousand men
per month in Lebanon to hew timber, seventy thousand
to carry burdens, eighty thousand to hew stones, and
three thousand three hundred overseers, who were all
employed for seven years ; and to whom, besides their
regular wages and food, Solomon gave, as a free gift,
six millions seven hundred and thirty -three thousand,
nine hundred and seventy-seven pounds sterling.

The treasure left by David, toward carrying on this
work, is estimated by Villalpandus at nine hundred

TEMPLE OP SOLOMON.

and eleven millions, four hundred and sixteen thou-
sand, two hundred and seven pounds sterling; to
•which, if we add Solomon's annual revenue, his trading
to Ophir for Gold, and the presents made him by all
the earth, we are not surprised at his being able to
complete this work in so expensive a manner ; nor can
we, without impiety, question its surpassing all other
structures, since we learn from 1 Chron. v: 23, that
it was built by the express direction of God himself.

The most interesting portion of this structure was,
however, the Sanctum Sanctorum, or Holy of Holies,
which was a room thirty feet square and thirty feet
high. The floor of this apartment was overlaid with
gold, and the walls adorned with palm-trees and cher-
ubim. The gold finish of this small apartment ab-
sorbed four millions three hundred and twenty-seven
pounds sterling. This most holy place was made on
purpose to be a tabernacle for the Ark, which was
placed in the middle of it between two cherubims of
image work, each fifteen feet high, having their wings
expanded each five cubits long, two of which touched
the walls, while the other two met and touched each
other exactly over the middle of the ark, their faces
being turned inward in a worshiping posture. Tho
Ark, called the "glory of Israel," was a small chest
or coffer, three feet nine inches long, two feet three
inches wide, and three feet three inches high. It
was made of wood, excepting only the top or mercy-
seat, but all overlaid with gold both inside and out,

TEMPLE OP SOLOMON.

and it had a ledge of gold surrounding it at the top
into which, as into a socket, was let the cover called
the " Mercy-seat.1' This mercy-seat was made of solid
gold, the thickness of a hand's breadth. At tho two
ends of it were two cherubim, looking inward toward
each other, with their wings expanded, and embracing
the whole circumference of the "mercy-seat," met on
every side and in the middle. The whole of this
"mercy-seat," it was affirmed by the Eabbins, was
made out of one solid lump of gold, with neither
rivets nor soldering of any of its parts. It was here
the Shekinah or Divine Presence rested, and was visi-
ble in the appearance of a cloud above it. From
hence the Bathkoll issued and gave answers when God
was consulted, and hence it is that God is said, in
Scripture, to dwell between the cherubim — that is be-
tween the cherubim on the mercy-seat — because there
was the seat or throne of the visible appearance of
God's glory among them.

This work was engraved at Boston, Mass., upon two steel
plates, from the celebrated design of Chancellor Schott,
of Hamburg, at a cost exceeding two thousand dollars.
Nothing but an examination will afford a sufficient idea
of the fund of instruction embodied in this work. The
border designs, of which there are eight, the drawings sub-
sidiary, of which there are four, and the scriptural and
historical passages thickly interspersed, make it a perfect
cyclopedia of the subject. The size of the plate is 24 by 42
inches, and the price is, for plain prints $2, and for colored
$2.50 each. Where clubs of five or more unite, the prices
will be $1.50 for plain, and $.2.00 for colored copies.

mm

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY